tihravy  of t:He  t:  heolocjical  ^tminavy 

PRIKCETON    .   NEW  JERSEY 
PRESENTED  BY 

Professor  Samuel  Miller 


BX    9869    .S4    R5    1846      c.l 
Rilliet,    Albert,    1809-1883. 
Calvin   and   Servetus 


CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 


Albert      l\Mi\dl 


CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS: 


THE  REFORMER'S  SHARE 


IN  THE 


TRIAL  OF  MICHAEL  SERVETUS 


HISTORICALLY    ASCERTAINED. 


FROM  THE  FRENCH:    WITH  NOTES  AND  ADDITIONS. 


BY  THB 

REV.    W.    K.    TWEEDIE. 


EDINBURGH : 
JOHN  JOHNSTONE,  15,  PRINCES  STREET. 

LONDON:    R.  GROOMBRIDGE  &  SONS. 


MDCCCXLVI. 


Edinburgh,  Printed  by  J.  Johnstone,  104,  High  Street. 


CONTENTS. 


rAGB 

vii. 


Preface, '       • 

Chap.  I.  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  Calvin,        .  1-61 

«     II.  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  Servetus,     .  62-71 

«  III.  Servetus  at  Geneva — State  of  Par- 
ties there, 72-8-1 

H  IV.  Arrestment  of  Servetus — First  Ju  di- 

ciAL  Proceedings  against  Him,  85-121 

„     V.  The  Council  of  Geneva  becomes  the 

Prosecutor  of  Servetus,  .         122-158 

„  VI.  "Written  Discussion  between  Serve- 
tus AND  Calvin — Debates  upon  Ex- 
communication BETWEEN  the  RE- 
FORMER AND  THE  Council,        .         .       159-186 

H  VII.  The  Council  consults  the  Swiss 
Churches  —  Their  Replies  —  The 
Sentence  and  Death  op  Servetus,    187-227 

Appendix, 229-245 


PEEFiCE. 


Perhaps  no  criminal  trial  ever  gave  occasion  to  such^ 
acrimonious  censures  as  that  of  Michael  Servetus. 
Men  of  every  rank,  and  every  variety  of  opinion, 
have  long  united  in  condemning  the  transaction ;  and 
perhaps  more  has  been  argued  or  declaimed  upon 
this  single  topic  than  upon  all  the  hecatombs  of  vic- 
tims offered  by  the  persecuting  spirit  of  Popery.* 

Yet,  after  all,  much  ignorance  still  prevails  regard- 
ing the  true  history  and  character  of  the  trial.  De  la 
Roche  in  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  J.  L. 
de  Mosheim  and  Alwoerden  about  the  middle  of  it, 
Sennebier  towards  its  close,  M.  Fleury  in  1835,  M. 
Trechsel  of  Berne  in  1839,  M.  de  YalajTe  in  1842, 
as  well  as  many  others,  have  professed  to  give  lives 
of  Servetus,  or  narratives  of  his  trial.     Some  of  these 

*  The  last  of  these  philippics  which  we  hare  noticed  was  pro- 
nounced by  Lord  Brougham.  But  surely  a  charge  from  such  a 
quarter  cannot  be  deemed  important,  at  least  as  regards  consis- 
tency. His  lordship  reckons  man  not  accountable  for  his  belief. 
Calvin  held  certain  beliefs,  and  held  them  honestly,  conscien- 
tiously, and  at  all  hazards ;  why,  then,  assail  him  for  convictions 
involving  no  responsibility  ? 


VIU  PREFACE. 


I 


.< 


were  dictated  by  avowed  hostility  to  Calviii,  or  anti- 
pathy to  the  theological  opinions  which  he  embraced 
and  advocated,  while  all  of  them  were  imperfect,  be- 
cause the  documentary  evidence  which  the  authors 
had  before  them  was  not  complete.  But  in  the  course 
of  1844,  M.  A.  Rilliet  of  Geneva  published  there  a 
brochure  upon  the  subject,""'  in  which  he  has,  with 
great  painstaking  and  impartiality,  concentrated  the 
light  of  history,  made  yet  more  clear  by  that  of  docu- 
ments hitherto  unexamined  or  unpublished.  The 
Registers  of  the  City  of  Geneva  were  long  supposed 
to  be  lost.  More  recently,  however,  they  have  been 
discovered  to  be  still  extant;  and  Rilliet  has  availed 
himself  of  all  that  they  contain  to  place  the  trial  of 
Servetus  in  its  true,  that  is,  its  historical,  light,  di- 
vested at  once  of  the  exaggerations  of  ignorance  and 
the  bitterness  of  partisanship. 

Without  sanctioning  every  sentiment  of  Rilliet,  it 
is,  perhaps,  not  too  much  to  say,  that  the  world  now 
knows  all  that  ever  can  be  known  concerning  the 
trial  of  Servetus,  till  the  day  Avhen  the  secrets  of  all 
hearts  shall  be  laid  bare.  The  impartial  student  of 
history  has  now  an  opportunity  of  ascertaining,  from 
unquestionable  and  authentic  sources,  all  the  circum- 
stances connected  v^^th  that  humbling  event.  The 
archives  of  Geneva  have  been  ransacked,  and  their 
contents  analyzed.  The  letters  of  contemporaries, 
printed  and  in  MS.,  have  been  examined.    The  parties 

*  Its  title  is,  "  Relation  du  Proces  Criminel  Intente  a  Geneve, 
en  1553,  coutre  Michel  Servet,  redigee  d'apres  les  Documents 
Originaux,  par  Albert  Rilliet." 


PREFACE.  IX 

which  then  contended  for  power  in  Geneva — its 
ancient  forms  of  justice — its  magistrates  and  ministers 
— the  very  documents  employed  in  the  trial,  as  they 
were  written  out  while  it  was  in  progress — the  Re- 
formed Churches  of  S^vitzerland,  and  other  bodies, 
both  friendly  and  hostile  to  the  Reformation,  have  all 
been  cited  by  Rilliet  to  give  evidence  on  this  long  con- 
tested topic;  and,  -svith  rather  a  leaning  to  Servetus, 
he  has  brought  into  a  short  compass  all  that  can, 
perhaps,  ever  be  ascertained  regarding  this  memorable 
trial  on  this  side  the  judgment-day. 

The  follo^ving  pages  contain,  among  other  things,  a 
translation  of  Rilliet's  work,  most  strictly  and  hte- 
rally  faithful  to  all  the  facts  which  he  has  brought  to 
light.  It  at  one  time  appeared  that  an  abstract  of 
his  narrative  might  have  sufficed;  but  that  there 
might  be  no  bias,  and  no  unconscious  warping  of  facts, 
it  has  been  reckoned  best  to  lay  before  our  readers  a 
translation  of  the  whole  of  Rilliet's  investigations  and 
views.  For  the  first  chapter,  and  the  Notes  marked 
Tr.,  the  translator  is  responsible;  and  the  whole  is 
now  submitted  to  the  friends  of  religion  in  the  hope 
that  an  accurate  judgment  may  at  last  be  formed  of 
Calvin's  share  in  this  mournful  process. 

And  what  was  his  share  ? 

That  he  held  the  opinion  that  heretics  might  be 
punished  by  the  sword  is  certain.  In  common  with 
nearly  all  the  men  of  his  generation,  the  great  French 
Reformer  believed  that  the  Word  of  God  was  something 
so  fixed  and  definite,  that  its  meaning  might  be  infal- 


L 


X  PREFACE. 

libly  ascertained,  and  that  to  depart  from  that  mean- 
ing so  as  to  endanger  the  souls  of  men  by  teaching  a 
lie,  was  a  crime  even  gi'eater  than  violating  human 
laws.  Looking  at  the  abstract  and  absolute  truth, 
rather  than  viewing:  it  in  connection  with  man's 
varied  mind,  the  Reformers  assumed  that  they  pos- 
sessed the  power,  first,  to  discover  Avith  certainty  the 
mind  of  God  in  Scripture;  and,  secondly,  of  checking 
heresy  by  imprisonment  or  death,  when  argument  failed 
to  convince  the  heretic.  Hence  the  trial  of  Servetus, 
and  of  all  who  suffered  like  him  at  the  hands  of  the 
Reformers.  They  reckoned  the  civil  magistrate  as 
much  bound  to  defend  the  first  as  the  second  table 
of  the  Decaloo-ue — to  vindicate  the  rigjhts  of  God 
against  blasphemy,  as  well  as  the  rights  of  man 
against  injustice;  and  this  formed  the  basis  of  their 
opinions  and  practices  on  the  subject. 

The  following  narrative  will  show  that  so  prevalent 
or  universal  were  the  sentiments  just  referred  to,\  dur- 
ing the  age  in  which  the  trial  took  place,  that  men  of 
all  shades  of  opinion  held  them — they  held  them  as 
first  principles  not  to  be  questioned,  and  would 
have  deplored  as  a  neglect  w^hat  we  now  lament  as  a 
perpetration.  Not  merely  the  Church  of  Rome, 
wdiich  has  sometimes  made  persecution  a  science,  but 
the  Churches  of  the  Reformation,  as  if  one  mind 
animated  them  all,  adopted  the  principle,  and  acted  on 
it.  Both  the  maoistrates  and  ministers  of  Berne  were 
unhesitating  and  decided  in  favour  of  condemning 
Servetus.  The  same  is  true  of  Zurich,  of  Schafi- 
hausen,  and  Bale.     Not  merely  the  firm  unbending 


PREFACE.  11 

Calvin,  but  the  mild  and  gentle,  and  too  com- 
promising ]\Ielancthon,  favoured  the  verdict.  The 
zealous  Fare!,  and  the  temperate  Bullinger,  nay, 
even  Servetus  himself,  sanctioned  the  maxim,  which 
it  would  then  have  been  heresy  to  question.  In 
short,  it  formed  part  of  the  religion  of  the  Reformed 
States,  that  heretics  deserved  to  die.  Their  most 
sagacious  men  saw  nothinsr  inconoruous  or  unchristian 
in  these  opinions.  They  felt  the  full  value  of  God's 
truth,  and  were  inclined  to  uphold  it  at  every  hazard 
— by  their  own  death,  or  that  of  others. 

This  may  not  vindicate  the  transaction  w^hose 
various  stages  are  now  to  be  described,  but  it  ex- 
plains it.  Men  who  dislike  the  French  Reformer, 
because  they  do  not  know  his  character,  and  others, 
because  the  form  of  truth  which  he  taught  offends 
them,  have  piled  obloquy  on  Cah-in's  memory,  for  his 
share  in  this  affair — he  is  thought  of  by  thousands 
only  as  the  truculent  and  relentless  murderer  of  Ser- 
vetus. The  narrative  now  submitted  might  terminate 
all  such  prejudices.  It  will  be  seen  that  what  he  did  ^ 
was  not  merely  in  perfect  unison  with  the  spirit  of  the 
age  in  which  he  lived,  but  in  compliance  with  the> 
laws  of  his  adopted  country.  If  condemned,  there- 
fore, it  must  be  rather  because  he  lived  in  the  six- 
teenth century,  than  as  causing  the  death  of  Ser- 
vetus ;  for,  we  repeat,  it  was  the  age,  and  not  Calvin, 
that  occasioned  his  condemnation.  Rilliet  has  de- 
scribed the  whole  in  one  of  his  antithetic  sentences: 
"  Devant  nos  consciences  cet  arret  est  odieux;  il  fiit 
juste  devant  la  loi." 


Xll  PREFACE. 

Indeed,  so  much  was  this  the  case,  that  Geneva 
was  congratulated  by  more  than  one  Reformer,  on  the 
happy  privilege  which  it  enjoyed  in  ridding  the  world 
of  Servetus.  There  was  an  actual  rivalry  and  com- 
petition between  the  Reformed  and  Popish  Chm-ches 
in  the  matter,  though  the  Reformer  s  clemency  sought 
a  commutation  of  the  punishment  into  one  less  severe 
than  burninof.* 

Besides,  in  estimating  the  moral  character  of  this 
painful  transaction,  we  are  not  merely  to  keep  in  view 
the  spirit  and  the  principles  of  the  age — we  are,  more- 
over, to  bear  in  mind  the  political  influences  which 
helped  to  hasten  the  death  of  Servetus.     He  sought 
to  connect  himself  with  a  party  in  Geneva  who  were 
then  struggling  for  a  power  that  was  dangerous  to  the 
commonwealth,  or  subversive  of  its  edicts  and  laws. 
They  would  fain  have  employed  him  as  an  instrument 
for  promoting  their  own  ends,  by  embroiling  the  Re- 
former, who  opposed  their  licentiousness.    They  were 
baffled ;  and  Servetus  was  more  or  less  their  political 
victim.     On  his  trial,  he  was  bold  or  timid,  perhaps 
we  might  say  he  was  insolent  or  humble,  according 
as  he  supposed  his  partisans  in  the  State  to  be  suc- 
cessful or  discomfited.    This  developed  passions  which 
should  never  have  entered  into  an  inquest  so  solemn, 
and  explains,  though  it  does  not  excuse,  the  mournful 
termination  of  the  trial,  which  made  Servetus  a  martyr 
or  a  hero  in  the  view  of  some — an  obstinate  and  un- 
principled heretic  in  the  opinion  of  others. 

*  Coleridge   has  Bomewhere  said,  that  "  if  any  poor  fanatic 
ever  thrust  himself  into  the  flames,  that  man  was  Servetus." 


•  •  • 


PREFACE.  Xlll 

And  this  is  made  apparent  by  the  fact,  that  when^, 
Servetus  was  at  last  condemned,  it  was  from  political 
rather  than  religious  considerations.  Calvin  was  set 
aside.  He  was  not  consulted.  Nay,  contrary  to  his 
wuhes,  the  Reformed  Governments  were  asked  to 
counsel  Geneva  in  the  affair.  Being  thus  constituted 
a  jury,  their  verdict  was  unanimous ;  and  Geneva 
would  have  outraged  the  whole  of  Reformed  Switzer- 
land, had  it  ventured  to  pronounce  Servetus  innocent, 
or  even  foimd  him  guilty  of  only  a  venial  offence, 
after  both  the  Churches  and  the  States  had  virtually 
condemned  him.  It  is,  therefore,  historically  imtrue 
that  Calvin  was  the  cause  of  the  unhappy  man's 
death.  Had  the  other  Churches  not  condemned  him, 
Servetus  would  have  been  dismissed  acquitted. 

Would  men  look  dispassionately  at  these  truths,  now 
historically  laid  before  them,  all  the  parties  in  this 
melancholy  transaction  would  receive  what  is  their 
due,  whether  of  censure  or  of  praise ;  especially  w^ould 
Calvin  be  freed  from  the  load  of  infamy  under  which 
his  memory  lies,  as  if  he  had  been  the  sole  instigator 
of  the  trial — the  personal  enemy,  or  the  heartless  per- 
secutor of  Servetus.  It  is  because  we  think  that  the 
following  narrative  is  calculated  to  lead  to  this  result 
that  we  invite  attention  to  it — conscious  that  the  im- 
partial inquirer  will  arrive  at  the  conclusion,  that  when 
Calvin  had  once  agreed  \vith  his  age  in  holding  the 
opinion  that  heretics  were  to  be  punished  by  the  civil 
magistrate,  all  that  he  did  in  the  trial  of  Servetus 
was  the  natural  result  of  his  principle,  while  it  was 
constitutionally  incumbent  on  him  as  a  minister  of 


XIV  PREFACE. 

Geneva.     He  behoved  either  to  repress  the  threaten 
ing  and  subversive  heresy  or  abandon  his  post. 

But  this  is  not  the  place  in  which  to  enter  on  any 
details  regarding  the  character  of  the  great  French 
Reformer.  He  had  not  advanced  so  far  before  his 
age  as  to  discern  the  force  or  application  of  some  prin- 
ciples now  held  to  be  axioms ;  but  that  is  only  saying 
that  he  hved  three  hundred  years  ago,  when  Europe 
was  but  emerging  from  the  bondage  and  the  blindness 
of  Popery.  And  if  he  still  bore  some  scars  of  the  yoke 
— if  his  noble  mind  did  not  all  at  once  embrace  the 
whole  range  of  Christian  principle — if  his  soul,  which 
clung  to  what  it  reckoned  the  truth  with  the  force 
of  passion,  was  not  all  at  once  unfettered — who  that 
knows  what  man  is  will  marvel?'^  The  more  that 
his  character  is  studied,  the  more  that  his  ardent 
affection  is  kno^\Ti,  the  more  that  his  devotedness  to 
the  simple  truth  of  God  is  understood,  and  the  more 
that  we  learn  of  that  fihal  affection  with  which  his 
friends  clung  to  Calvin  as  their  father,  the  less,  in  one 
point  of  view,  will  we  regard,  the  more,  in  another, 
deplore,  the  oblocjuy  of  the  world  against  him.  One  of 
his  titles  among  his  friends  was  a  blessed  one — he  was 
called  EioTivoToir.rtjs ;  and  while  he  has  himself  confessed 
that  "  a  certain  severe  lenity"  ever  influenced  him, 

*  Dr  Whately  lias  explained  this  matter  in  a  single  sentence  : 
"  A  man  of  the  most  humane  and  benevolent  character  may  be  led 
by  a  mistaken  sense  of  duty,  arising  from  error  of  judgment,  to 
Eanction  the  m.ost  dreadful  severities,  -which  he  regards  as  the 
only  efiectual  check  to  a  greater  evil,  such  as  he  thinks  himself 
bound  to  repress  at  all  events," — Errors  of  Romanism,  3d  Edi- 
tion, p.  '254. 


PREFACE.  XT 

devoted  attachment  to  what  he  reckoned  the  truth 
was  his  predominant  characteristic — the  cause  of  his 
greatness,  the  occasion  of  his  errors.  But  his  own 
words  to  Perrin  contain  the  real  elements  of  his 
character:  "  Quis  sim,"  he  sajs,  "  aut  ipse  scis,  aut 
scire  saltern  debes,  is,  nempe,  cui  ita  corde  sit  jus 
c'jslestis  heri,.ut  ab  illo  recta  conscientia  asserendo  nid- 
lius  mortalis  causa  dimovendus  sim."  This  sentence 
is  a  key  to  Calvin's  mind. 

We  only  add,  that  the  outline  of  Calvin's  History,  con- 
tained in  the  first  chapter,  is  a  very  meagre  sketch  or  ab- 
stract of  a  life  prepared  now  many  years  ago.  It  is  well 
known  that  "  a  great  and  venerable  name" — the  late 
Dr  M'Crie — contemplated  such  a  work,  when  he  waa 
called  away  to  the  world  where  the  good  are  "  for  ever 
with  the  Lord."  The  inlieritor  of  his  name — the  Rev. 
Thomas  M'Crie — is  now  employed  upon  the  work,  and 
will,  no  doubt,  do  justice  to  one  of  the  greatest  of  the 
sons  of  men.  It  is  not  creditable  to  Scotland,  so  much 
indebted  to  Calvin  and  Geneva,  that  we  have  no 
native  life  of  the  French  Reformer  worth  v  of  his  name. 
Gratitude  combines  with  admiration  to  call  on  us  to 
fill  up  the  blank. 

W.   K.  T. 

Edinburgh,  J/ay,  1846. 


CALYIN  AND  SEEVETUS. 


CHAPTJER  I. 


LIFE   OF    CALVIN. 


The  sixteenth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  like  that 
in  which  we  live,  opened  amid  commotions  which 
convulsed  society  to  its  centre.  Causes  long  in  silent 
operation  then  hastened  to  consummate  their  effects; 
and  a  combination  of  circumstances,  unequalled  since 
the  days  of  the  apostles,  tended  to  promote  the  eman- 
cipation of  mind,  and  advance  the  great  ends  for  which 
the  Gospel  of  Christ  was  given  by  God  to  man.  One 
of  the  periodic  throes  to  which  the  world  seems  destined 
had  come  on,  and  a  thousand  premonitions  told  that 
some  mighty  events  were  at  hand. 

Amid  these  struggles,  in  which  errors,  grown  vene- 
rable by  their  long  duration,  were  to  be  assailed  and 
overthrown,  and  higher  and  purer  principles  develop- 
ed, there  appeared  in  different  quarters  of  Europe 
men  of  mighty  minds,  gifted  by  God  for  their  era,  and 
prepared  for  all  that  their  troubled  age  called  on  them 


2  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

either  to  endure  or  to  do.  Q^colampadius  at  one  place, 
Bucer  at  another,  Melancthon  at  another,  Farel  and 
Viret  at  others — Knox  in  Scotland,  Zuingle  and  Bul- 
linger  at  Zurich^  Haller  at  Berne,  and  Luther  every- 
where, co-operated  in  restoring  the  Gospel  to  sinners, 
and  pouring  into  their  hearts  the  message  brought  from 
heaven  to  earth  by  Him  whose  "  words  are  spirit  and 
life."  Men  were  thus  taught  that  he  who  was  blindly 
reckoned  the  "  Rector  of  the  Church  universal,"  and 
impiously  styled  the  "  Head  of  the  Republic  of  God," 
was  but  a  frail  and  an  erring  mortal ;  that  the  system 
over  which  he  presided  was  a  vast  mass  of  corrup- 
tions piled  above  the  simple  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  to 
bury  it,  if  possible,  in  oblivion ;  and  that  the  real  wel- 
fare of  the  nations  was  identified  with  the  dethron- 
ing of  the  Man  of  Sin — the  abolition  of  the  system 
which,  as  the  mystery  of  iniquity,  is  stamped  with  the 
curse  of  Almighty  God. 

In  forwarding  this  blessed  work,  none  stood  more 
signally  forward,  or  acted  a  more  conspicuous  part, 
than  the  French  Reformer,  Calvin;  and  we  would  now 
lay  before  our  readers  a  short,  and  necessarily  a  super- 
ficial, sketch  of  his  eventful  life,  before  entering  on  the 
details  connected  with  the  trial  of  Michael  Servetus. 

John  Calvin  was  born  at  Noyon  in  Picardy,  on 
the  10th  of  July  1509.  His  parents  were  Gerard 
Chauvin,  who,  among  other  offices,  held  those  of 
procurator  of  the  chapter,  and  procurator-fiscal  of 
the  county,  of  Noyon,  and  Joanna  Franc,  who  was 
reckoned  one  of  the  most  beautiful  women  of  her  time. 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  3 

Though  the  Reformer,  who  was  the  second  son,  owed 
little  to  the  influence  of  birth,  his  father's  activity,  and 
his  connection  with  some  families  of  rank,  in  some 
degree  facilitated  young  Calvin's  entering  upon  life 
with  prospects  of  worldly  success.  Florimond  de 
Remond  gravely  says :  "  The  honour  of  the  Pontificate 
was  promised  to  him  at  his  birth." 

We  learn  from  Beza  that  John  had  four  brothers,* 
though  it  is  difficult,  amid  conflicting  accounts,  to  ar- 
rive at  very  accurate  information  regarding  the  family 
of  Gerard.  He  himself  died  in  the  Popish  communion, 
but  more  than  one  of  his  sons  were  happily  induced 
to  abjure  it.  Charles,  the  eldest,  who  died  before 
Calvin,  was  suspected  of  heresy,  refused  to  receive  the 
sacrament  of  extreme  unction  prior  to  his  death,  and 
was,  in  consequence,  ignominiously  buried  beneath 
the  gibbet  of  Noyon,  as  one  who  had  denied  the  faith ! 
The  registers  of  that  city  are  said  to  testify  that  Mary, 
one  of  the  daughters,  also  died  an  heretic- — that  is,  she 
had  listened  to  the  voice  of  God,  and  abandoned  the 
corruptions  of  Rome;  and  we  shall  subsequently  find 
that  Anthony,  the  third  son,  embraced  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  cast  in  his  lot  with  his  illustrious  brother  at 
Geneva. 

Gerard  Chauvin,  whose  surname  his  son  afterwards 
changed  into  that  of  Calvin,  had  some  reputation  for 
abilities,  and  appears  to  have  possessed  a  moderate 
competency — the  fruits  of  industry  rather  than  in- 
heritance.   He  bestowed  a  liberal  education  upon  his 

*  Another  account  says  three ;  another,  three  brothers  and  two 

sisters. 


4  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

son,  whose  studies  began  at  the  College  of  Capettes, 
in  Noyon;  and  about  the  commencement  of  his  four- 
teenth year  (1523)  he  was  sent  to  Paris,  to  enjoy  the 
benefits  of  the  capital,  along  with  the  sons  of  the 
house  of  Mommors,  then  reckoned  among  the  most 
distinguished  in  Picardy. 

In  Paris,  Calvin  prosecuted  his  studies  first  at  the 
College  of  La  Marche,  under  the  direction  of  Maturin 
Cordier,  the  well  known  Corderius  of  our  Latin  schools, 
a  teacher  of  eminence,  and  ultimately  a  friend  of  the 
Reformed  cause.  The  youth  was  subsequently  re- 
moved to  the  College  of  Montagu;  and  even  at  this 
early  age,  he  is  said  to  have  read  some  of  the  works 
of  Luther,  though  he  continued  in  the  worse  than 
Egyptian  bondage  of  Popery  for  several  years  subse- 
quent to  that  period.  He  passed  rapidly  through  the 
different  departments  of  study,  ascending  from  college 
to  college  so  fast  as  far  to  outstrip  his  fellows;  thus 
early  evincing  the  vigour  of  his  understanding  and 
the  remarkable  tenacity  of  his  memory. 

Gerard  Chauvin  had  destined  his  son,  from  his 
infancv,  to  the  Church,  and  his  decision  received  a 
sanction  from  young  Calvin's  early  habits.  Even  in 
boyhood,  he  displayed  that  unwavering  uprightness 
which  characterized  him  through  life.  He  himself 
records  that,  as  a  Papist,  he  was  unbending  and  austere 
at  once  in  the  tenets  which  he  held  and  the  spirit  in 
which  he  enforced  them.  Free  in  his  own  conduct 
from  the  excesses  too  common  in  youth,  he  was  a 
stern  accuser  of  vice  in  others,  and  verified  to  the  letter 
the  Italian  proverb:  The  man  is  a  continuation  of  the 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  5 

child.*  His  habits  were  retiring  and  reserved,  indi- 
cating timidity  rather  than  presaging  the  boldness 
which  afterwards  characterized  him.  Like  many 
deeply  meditative  minds,  the  ordinary  sports  of  youth 
had  few  attractions  for  him.  Study  was  his  employ- 
ment, while  yet  it  appeared  to  be  his  amusement 
rather  than  his  task. 

Before  John  Calvin  was  twelve  years  of  age,  his 
father  had  interest  to  procure  his  appointment  as  a 
chaplain  in  the  Cathedral  of  Noyon.  The  solemn 
absurdity  of  such  a  nomination  was  completed  by  the 
bishop  performing  the  ceremony  of  the  tonsure  on  the 
boy,  thus  fitting  him  for  the  sacred  office,  and  for 
holding  cures  without  knowing  their  meaning,  far 
less  being  able  to  fill  them.  In  1527,  he  obtained 
the  curacy  of  Marteville,  which  he  exchanged  two 
years  thereafter  for  that  of  Pont  I'Eveque,  the  native 
place  of  his  father.  He  zealously  preached  to  the 
people  of  his  cure;  and  though  not  regularly  ordained 
as  a  priest,  he  perhaps  performed  some  of  the  func- 
tions of  that  office. 

While  he  was  thus  passing  from  cure  to  cure,  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  his  mind  had  already  begun, 
at  least,  to  be  startled  by  the  truths  which  were  then 
in  rapid  circulation;  for  his  was  not  a  soul  which 
could  contemplate  without  interest  or  emotion  the 
new  principles  and  stirring  events  of  his  times.  This 
much  is  certain,  on  the  authority  of  Desmay,  that, 

*  Indeed  this  passed  into  a  proverb  among  his  companions,  and 
he  was  often  taunted  with  the  saying  :  "  John  can  decline  as  far  as 
the  accusatite.'''' 


b  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

in  1526,  he  was  declared  contumacious  by  the  Chap- 
ter of  Noyon,  on  account  of  his  residence  at  Paris,  and 
his  long  delay  in  returning  to  his  duties.  The  heavings 
of  the  Reformation  were  then  agitating  both  the  capi- 
tal and  the  provinces;  and  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that,  even  at  this  early  period,  Calvin  had  begun  to 
study  with  some  attention  what  was  not  then  cordially 
received,  though  it  ultimately  influenced  his  mind  so 
as  to  turn  it  from  error  and  corruption  to  the  truth. 
The  tires  of  persecution  which  then  blazed  in  Paris 
could  not  but  prompt  such  a  mind  to  think  and  in- 
quire; and  honest  inquiry  has  ever  been  fatal  to  the 
pretensions  of  Rome. 

JiMeanwhile  his  original  destination,  as  to  the  pro- 
fession which  he  should  follow,  was  altered.  Gerard 
Chauvin,  perceiving  that  the  study  of  law  opened  a 
more  promising  road  to  wealth  than  the  Church, 
resolved  that  his  son  should  become  a  lawyer,  and 
not  a  divine,  and  Calvin  submitted  to  be  "  dragged" 
from  his  favourite  study  in  obedience  to  his  father's 
desire.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  John  Calvin  and 
Michael  Servetus,  who  were  subsequently  placed  in 
such  keen  opposition,  were  each,  at  the  bidding  of 
paternal  authority,  induced  for  a  time  to  abandon  the 
study  of  theology  for  that  of  law. 

But  He  who  had  work  for  the  Reformer  in  his 
Church,  in  providence  prevented  Calvin's  attention 
from  being  wholly  turned  from  theology;  and  his 
kinsman,  Pierre  Robert  Olivetan,  was  the  instrument 
employed  for  that  purpose.  The  Revelation  of  God 
was  studied  by  them  perhaps  even  more  than  the  laws 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  7 

of  men,  and  the  result  of  their  united  labours  was  the 
publication  of  a  French  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
at  a  period  subsequent  to  that  to  which  we  now  refer 
(1535).  Calvin  furnished  the  preface,  vindicating  the 
propriety  of  multiplying  such  publications,  and  re- 
futing some  of  the  Romanists'  favourite  dogmas.* 
He  was  gradually,  and  perhaps  unconsciously,  pre- 
paring now  for  adopting  views  and  a  profession  in 
which  the  messenger  of  peace  too  often  endured  a 
soldier's  hardships  and  found  a  soldier's  sepulchre. 

Calvin  continued,  however,  for  some  time  longer, 
to  prosecute  the  study  of  law.  At  Orleans  he  heard 
the  lectures  of  a  learned  jurisconsult,  Pierre  I'Etoile;  t 
and  it  is  said  that  while  there  he  frequently  discharged 
the  duties  of  professor.  He  w^as  offered  an  honorary 
doctorate  by  an  unanimous  vote  of  the  Senate;  and 
even  the  rancorous  hatred  of  Audin:|:  against  Calvin 
has  been  compelled  to  confess,  that  at  Orleans  he  was 
the  delight  of  the  professors — assiduous,  docile,  and 
full  of  ardour. § 

*  D'Israeli  (Curios,  of  Literal.)  incorrectly  says  :  "  The  Olivetan 
Bible  was  the  first  translation  published  by  the  Protestants,  and 
there  seems  no  doubt  that  Calvin  was  the  chief,  if  not  the  only  trans- 
lator." We  do  not  quote  the  prejudiced  remarks  of  D"'Israeli  re- 
garding Calvin's  religious  views. 

•f-  Peter  Stella,  president  of  the  Parliament  of  Paris. 

+  This  is  the  name  of  one  who  has  written  a  book  entitled  Vie  de 
Calvin,  as  a  Popish  antidote  to  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Refor- 
mation. The  language  of  truth  and  soberness  applied  to  that  per- 
formance would  seem  severe;  yet  even  this  age  of  scurrilous  writing 
has  produced  little  that  is  so  false  as  Audin's  work.  He  gives  a  full 
account  of  Gerard  Chau^^n''s  descendants. 

§  It  appears  that  his  studies  in  law  had  already  made  him  well 
known-    So  early  as  1530,  when  CalTzn  was  only  twenty-one  years 


8  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

But  sacred  literature  began  at  length  more  and  more 
to  engross  the  mind  of  Calvin ;  and  though  he  did  not 
yet  abandon  the  study  of  law,  he  pursued  it  with  grow- 
ing indifference.  At  the  same  time,  he  was  gradually 
becoming  the  centre  of  attraction  to  many  who  had 
begun  earnestly  to  desire  for  the  knowledge  of  purer 
doctrines  than  those  which  had  for  ages  prevailed; 
and  though  he  ever  courted  retirement,  it  soon  became 
apparent  that  he  was  one  of  those  who  could  not  be 
concealed — he  belonged  to  an  order  of  men  on  whom 
others  instinctively  lean,  because  their  wisdom  and 
their  strength  render  them  guides  adapted  to  great 
emergencies  and  stirring  times.  His  places  of  re- 
tirement, he  says,  "were  like  public  schools;"  and 
this  we  may  readily  believe  concerning  one  w^ho  was 
pronounced  the  most  learned  man  in  Europe  when 
only  in  his  twenty-second  year.  It  was  evident  that 
He  who  holds  in  his  hands  the  hearts  of  all  men,  was 
now  leading  Calvin  by  ways  that  he  did  not  know, 
and  training  him  for  the  conspicuous  sphere  which  he 
occupied  among  the  illustrious  men,  and  in  the  blessed 
emancipation,  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Like  Joseph, 
"  the  Lord  was  with  him,  and  he  was  a  prosperous 
man."  God  is  in  biography  as  well  as  in  history,  and 
we  behold  his  finger  here. 

And  it  is  not  easy  for  us  to  estimate  the  struggle 

of  age,  he  wrote  a  letter  on  the  divorce  of  Henry  VIII.  He  held 
that  the  marriage  was  illegal,  as  within  the  degree  allowed  by  Scrip- 
ture; and  therefore  gave  his  opinion  in  favour  of  the  divorce.  His 
letter  is  referred  to  by  Collier,  Eccles.  Hist.,  vol.  ii.  p.  55.  Burnet, 
Hist.  Reform.,  vol.  i.'p.  170  (edit,  1816).  It  may  be  seen  in  Epis- 
tolce  Calviniy  third  edit.  1597,  p.  384. 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  9 

that  it  must  have  cost  a  mind  like  Calvin's  to  aban- 
don his  ancestral  delusions.  He  acknowledges  that 
his  mind  had  been  so  far  debased  by  Popery,  that  he 
reverentially  kissed  the  rotten  relics  of  creatures  called 
saints;  and  when  we  have  witnessed  the  spell-like 
power  which  Popery  exercises  over  the  consciences  of 
the  timid — nay,  how  it  often  quells  the  boldest  of  men 
into  submission — one  can,  in  some  measure,  enter  into 
the  recoil  and  revulsion  produced  by  the  prospect  of 
forsaking  all  that  had  been  held  sacred  and  venerable, 
or  calculated  to  open  the  way  to  honour  and  distinction. 
The  system  which  taught  a  priest  to  trample  on  the 
neck  of  emperors,  and  vindicate  the  deed  as  religious, 
must  have  possessed  a  power  truly  satanic  in  blinding 
and  deadening  the  consciences  of  its  devotees.  Calvin 
was  for  years  one  of  the  most  zealous  and  abject  of 
them  all;  but  the  disenthralling  effects  of  Luther's 
struggles  were  beginning  to  be  felt  throughout  Europe. 
The  Confession  of  Augsburg,  published  in  1530;  the 
Treaty  of  Smalcald,  in  1531 ;  and  that  of  Nurimberg, 
in  1532,  all  sped  onward  these  effects;  and  mind  after 
mind  was  awakening  from  its  lethargy.  Authority, 
apostolicity,  infallibility,  and  other  figments  might  be 
quoted  against  this  progressive  movement;  but  it  was 
a  feeble  attempt  to  arrest  a  flowing  tide.  The  anta- 
gonism had  begun.  Truth  and  error  were  in  conflict ; 
and  Omnipotence  alone  could  control  the  issues. 

The  University  of  Bourges  was  at  this  period  cele- 
brated as  a  school  of  law,  and  thither  Calvin  proceeded 
to  study  under  a  distinguished  lawyer,  Alciati,*  who 
*  He  was  born  at  Milan  in  1492. 


10  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

had  been  invited  to  that  city  from  Italy  by  Francis  I. 
Calvin  is  said  to  have  listened  to  Alciati  with  a  kind 
of  "  angelic  ecstasy,"  and  profited  at  once  in  theology 
and  law,  owing  to  the  eminence  of  his  professor  in  both 
departments.  At  the  same  time,  he  laid  the  foundation 
of  some  friendships  which  tended  to  mitigate  the  sor- 
rows of  his  troubled  life.  INIelchior  Wolmar  then  taught 
Greek  at  Bourges,  and  that  learned  man  formed  a 
strong  attachment  to  Calvin,  his  pupil,  for  which  he 
accounted  by  saying  that  he  combined  the  industry  of 
a  German  with  the  vivacity  of  a  Frenchman ;  but  the 
strongest  tie,  no  doubt,  was  occasioned  by  Wolmar's 
expressed  conviction  that  Calvin  would  eventually 
prove  an  intrepid  assertor  of  the  Reformed  doctrines, 
to  which  the  professor  was  thus  early  attached. 

The  inward  struggle  was  all  the  while  advancing 
in  Calvin's  mind  without  any  publicity,  but  with  a 
direct  bearing  on  the  final  issue.  The  flesh  was  striv- 
ing against  the  Spirit;  and  he  has  himself,  in  his  own 
vigorous  style,  described  his  condition  when  the  set 
time  came  for  abandoning  Popery  and  embracing  the 
truth.  It  was  in  one  of  his  evening  walks  with 
Wolmar  in  the"*  neighbourhood  of  Bourges  that  he 
finally  resolved  to  concentrate  his  attention  on  theo- 
logy, and  that  formed,  in  effect,  the  turning  point  of 
his  history;  it  solved  the  question,  whether  Calvin's 
powers  were  to  be  expended  upon  the  subtleties  of 
law,  or  allowed  to  aim  at  the  noblest  object  placed 
within  the  grasp  of  man — the  disenthralling  of  mind, 
and  the  winning  of  souls  to  Christ.  To  render  the 
resolution  instantly  a  practical  measure,  he  appears 


LTFE  OF  CALVIN.  1 1 

to  have  occasionally  preached  in  that  vicinity,  espe- 
cially at  Lignieres,  where  the  people  acknowledged, 
what  we  can  easily  believe,  that  he  preached  better 
than  the  monks.  But  the  unexpected  illness  and 
death  of  his  father  recalled  him,  for  a  little,  from 
Bourges  to  Noyon.  His  native  city  had  showed  symp- 
toms of  a  desire  to  adopt  the  Reformed  doctrines;  for 
images  had  been  destroyed  and  crosses  thro^vn  down ; 
and  these  and  other  events  tended,  perhaps,  to  expedite 
or  confirm  the  change  that  was  coming  over  Calvin; 
at  least  he  now  made  arrangements  for  selling  his  hene- 
JiceSy  and  it  appears,  from  the  records  of  the  city,  that 
the  sale  took  place  in  1531.  It  is  supposed  that  at 
this  visit,  Calvin  communicated  to  his  two  brothers  and 
his  sister  the  views  which  he  held  regarding  religion ; 
after  which  he  removed  to  Paris,  where  he  published 
his  maiden  work — a  Commentary  on  Seneca's  Trea- 
tise, De  dementia.  It  may  appear  strange,  that  one 
described  as  harsh,  unfeeling,  and  truculent,  like  Cal- 
vin, should  have  commenced  his  public  life  by  such  a 
production;  but  we  apprehend  that  this  early  choice 
really  furnishes  a  key  to  the  heart  or  the  true  cha- 
racter of  the  Reformer.  Benevolence  or  affection  was 
unquestionably  its  groundwork,  and  even  the  errors 
which  he  committed  were  only  misapplications  of  that 
principle.  The  work  referred  to  has  procured  for 
Calvin  the  praise  of  men  of  all  parties,  at  least  for  pre- 
cocious power,  as  it  occupies  the  neutral  territory  on 
which  prejudice  and  partisanship  are  not  likely  to 
encroach.  His  chief  object  in  its  publication  was, 
if  possible,   to  draw  the  attention  of  Francis  I.  to 


1-2  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

the  atrocity  of  those  martyrdoms  which  were  then  so 
rife  in  Paris;  but  what  could  a  treatise  by  a  heathen 
avail  against  the  heart  of  the  fierce  though  accom- 
plished monarch  of  France,  animated  by  a  spirit  of 
chivalry  for  Rome? 

A  brief  sojourn  at  Paris  in  the  year  1532  made 
Calvin  acquainted  wdth  some  of  the  adherents  of 
Lutheranism.  His  mind  had  been  gradually  approxi- 
mating to  theirs;  and  he  was  now  placed  under  an 
influence  that  matured  and  consolidated '^his  belief. 
In  terms  of  his  previous  resolution,  he  now  finally 
discontinued  the  study  of  law;  and  though  he  still 
endeavoured  to  shun  publicity,  his  views  were  now 
turned  to  the  revival  of  religion  among  his  country- 
men. His  mind  had  slowly  undergone  that  mighty 
revolution  which  amounts  to  a  new  creation — a  tran- 
sition from  death  to  life ;  and  he  has  himself  enabled 
us  to  contemplate  the  transition  thus  made  by  his 
soul.  He  was  led  formally  to  renounce  Popery  and 
all  its  corruptions,  and  thus  describes  the  process. 

As  he  had  been  taught  from  his  youth,  Calvin  had 
professed  the  Christian  faith,  if  the  corruptions  of 
Rome  have  any  title  to  the  name,  but  had  no  heart- 
felt or  intelligent  conviction  of  its  importance.  He 
believed  that  the  knowledge  of  heaven  w^as  intrusted 
to  priests,  who  were  to  be  consulted  as  its  oracles;  but 
all  his  attainments  never  had  enabled  him,  as  he  con- 
fesses, to  worship  God  in  truth,  nor  cherish  solid  hope, 
nor  discharge  aright  the  duties  of  the  Christian  life. 
He  endeavoured  to  serve  God,  but  failed  in  every  at- 
tempt— he  believed  that  he  was  redeemed,  but  knew 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  13 

not   how  redemption  should  influence  his  life  —  he 
knew  there  would  be  a  resurrection,  but  he  shuddered 
at  the  thought — he  concluded  that  mercy  would  be  ex- 
tended to  none  but  the  deserving — he  wished,  like  all 
men  by  nature,  to  supersede  the  Redeemer's  righteous- 
ness— he  thought  that   God   could   be   satisfied   by 
masses  and  confessions — supplications,  sacrifices,  and 
penance  were  employed  to  appease  Him — he  implored 
the  saints  to  intercede ;  but,  after  all,  he  was  forced 
to  confess  that  he  felt  no  peace  of  mind — he  spent  his 
strength  for  nought,  and  only  "  laboured  in  the  fire." 
"Whether  he  contemplated  his  own  or  Jehovah's  cha- 
racter, he  was  wretched,  and  a  terror  took  possession 
of  him  which,  he  says,  no  expiations  could  quell.    The 
more  strict  his  self- scrutiny,  the  more  loud  was  his  con- 
science in  condemning.     Looking  back  on  his  youth, 
and  seeinof  there  only  ungodliness — feelinfr  that  he 
had   sought  to  extinguish  the  light  which  Jehovah 
sheds  down,  and  withhold  the  homage  which  Jehovah 
demands,  his  mind  was  overwhelmed;   and  it  was 
then   that   he    learned   that  deep  spiritual    exercise 
which  he  afterwards  taught  to  thousands.     Amid  this 
training  he  courted  oblivion,  but  it  would  not  come; 
and  when  every  alternative  had  failed,  he  resolved,  in 
a  true  self-righteous  spirit,  just  to  continue  doing  and 
endeavouring,  in  the  expectation  that  this  doing  and 
endeavouring  would  at  last  succeed ! 

When   truth  at  length  began    to    dawn  on  him, 
it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  proud  Calvin  would 
regard  it — nay,  he  eagerly  strove  to  repel  it.*     He 
*  Initio,  fateor,  strenue,  animose  resistebam. — Calvin. 


14  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

had  now  begun  to  struggle  with  a  law  which  would 
neither  lower  its  demands  nor  submit  to  be  com- 
promised, and  felt  that  anguish  which  has  some- 
times struck  self-righteous  man  dumb  in  motionless 
despair.*  His  reverence  for  the  Church  was  his 
stumbling-block;  but  the  blessing  of  the  converting 
Spirit  removed  it,  and  Christ  became  his  all — from 
that  day  his  maxim  ever  was:  "None  but  Christ" — 
"  God  forbid  that  I  should  glorv,  save  in  his  cross." 
At  Paris,  Calvin  first  became  acquainted  with  Farel. 
They  met  in  the  house  of  Stephen  de  la  Foye,  a  con- 
vert and  martyr  to  the  truth;  and  there  the  good  word 
of  the  kingdom  was  deposited  in  more  hearts  than 
Calvin's.  Once  emancipated  from  the  arch-delusions 
—  the  Pope's  infallibility,  and  the  power  of  the  hier- 
archy to  damn — the  rest  of  the  Popish  corruptions 
soon  melted  away — they  were  like  snow  before  the  sun- 
shine of  summer,  when  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  arose. 
Calvin  now  saw  the  degradation  into  which  he  had 
sunk;  and  deploring  in  groans  and  tears  his  obstinate 
aberrations,  he  turned  from  them  to  God  in  Christ, 
according  to  the  Gospel — a  Papist  no  longer,  but  a 
Christian — a  man  of  God,  furnished  unto  many  good 
works. 

From  that  day,  thoughts  which  had  their  origin  and 
their  end  in  heaven  became  familiar  to  his  soul.  lie 
had  experienced  the  essential  connection  between  sin 
and  misery — he  was  now  to  know  the  indissoluble 

*  Toutes  fois,  et  quantes  que  je  descendoy  en  moy,  ou  que 
j'eslevoy  le  coeur  a  Toi,  une  si  extreme  liorreur  me  surprenoit,  &c. — 
Calvin. 


LIFE  OF  CALVIX.  15 

alliance  which  God  has  created  between  holiness  and 
peace,  and  to  understand  that,  though  the  laws  of  the 
moral  world  be  less  palpable  than  those  of  the  material, 
they  are  neither  less  binding  nor  less  inevitable.  From 
his  conversion,  in  short,  Calvin  moved  upward  like 
a  culminating  star;  and  had  his  eye  been  less  sted- 
fastly  fixed  on  heaven,  the  world  would  not  have 
waged  such  a  controversy  against  his  memory  and 
name.* 

We  cannot,  in  this  glance  at  his  history,  dwell  in 
detail  on  the  various  incidents  which  befell  Calvin  at 
this  period.  He  now  began  to  stand  forth  as  a 
defender  of  the  Lutheran  cause,  as  the  Reformation 
was  then  designated,  and  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  its 
friends.  But  he  soon  became  an  object  of  suspicion  to 
the  Parliament  of  Paris ;  his  apartments  were,  in  con- 
sequence, searched,  and  Calvin  was  obliged  to  flee  in 
disguise  from  the  city.  Though  Margaret  of  Navarre 
endeavoured  to  shelter  him  along  with  other  Refor- 
mers, he  was  not  safe  from  the  hot  persecution  that 
raged,  and  therefore  retired  to  Saintonge;  and  while 
he  preached  the  Gospel  there  whenever  opportunity 
oifered,  he  circulated  tracts^  prepared  by  himself,  in 
the  hope  of  alluring  the  people  to  think.  By  his  lessons 
and  efforts,  Audin  confesses,  many  were  induced  to 
abandon  Popery  and  embrace  the  truth.t  It  has  been 
said  that  the  Reformation  in  France  began  when  the 
voice  of  Calvin  was  heard;  at  all  events,  his  disciples, 

*  He  who  would  form  a  right  opinion  of  Calvin's  Conversion 
should  consult  his  Responsio  ad  Sadoletum,  in  which  the  Reformer 
describes  the  change. 

•f  Audin,  i.  p.  68. 


16  CALVTN  AND  SERVETUS. 

about  this  period,  begin  to  be  recognised  as  a  separate 
body  from  the  Lutherans. 

When  the  persecution  had  a  little  abated,  Calvin 
returned  to  Paris;  and  it  was  about  this  period 
(1533-1534)  that  he  had  some  interviews  with 
Michael  Servetus  on  the  subject  of  his  erroneous 
opinions.  Arrangements  were  made  for  a  conference 
regarding  them;  but  the  Spaniard  did  not  appear, 
and  we  shall  afterwards  find  Calvin  referring  to  this 
affair. 

His  labours  at  this  period  were  brought  to  bear  on 
various  parts  of  France;  and  many  converts  of  note 
adopted  his  opinions.  But  the  Lutherans,  in  great 
numbers,  were  now  remorselessly  consumed  in  the 
flames  at  Paris,  sometimes  even  to  the  extent  of  six  in 
a  single  day;  and  when  Calvin  saw  these  funeral  fires 
so  frequently  blazing,  he  resolved  to  abandon  France, 
and  seek  an  asylum  in  some  of  those  countries  where 
the  truth  was  less  intensely  hated.*  He  selected  Bale 
as  the  place  of  his  retreat ;  and  in  proceeding  thither 
was  robbed  by  his  servant  on  the  way.  At  Strasburg, 
Calvin  borrowed  money  to  help  him  on  his  journey; 
and  for  some  time  after  his  arrival  at  his  adopted  home, 
we  find  him  co-operating  with  some  of  the  leading 
minds  of  his  age  in  advancing  the  cause  of  truth. 

*  Previous  to  his  departure,  he  puhlished  at  Orleans  a  treatise 
against  a  sect  which  had  sprung  out  of  the  Reformation,  holding  the 
opinion  that  the  soul  sleeps  from  death  to  the  judgment.  It  was 
first  published  in  1534,  under  the  title  of  PsycliO])annucMa.  No 
doubt  can  remain  in  the  mind  of  any  who  have  read  the  treatise, 
that  Calvin,  when  he  wrote  it,  had,  with  all  his  heart,  abjured  the 
heresy  of  Rome. 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  17 

It  was  at  Bale,  in  the  year  1535  or  1536,  that 
Calvin  published  the  first  edition  of  his  Institutions 
of  the  Christian  Religion.  This  is  not  the  place  to 
enter  into  any  curious  investigation  regarding  the  time, 
the  place,  and  the  title  under  which  that  remarkable 
work  first  saw  the  light;*  but  it  at  once  placed  its 
author  in  the  first  rank  of  the  master  spirits  of  that 
age  of  mighty  men.  While  labouring  at  the  task,  he 
is  said  to  have  passed  whole  nights  without  sleep,  and 
days  without  food.  He  had  but  recently  emerged  from 
the  fearful  pit  of  Popery ;  and  yet  so  wondrous  were 
his  powers  and  his  progress,  that  in  this  magnificent 
production  of  consecrated  intellect  he  has  drawn  out 
all  the  truths  of  revelation  in  a  perfect  system,  so  that 
it  were  difficult  to  say  what  portion  of  the  Christian 
scheme  is  overlooked  or  even  displaced.  It  is  saidt  that 
fragments  of  the  Institutes  had  been  circulated  at  the 
court  of  Margaret  of  Navarre,  while  the  author  w^as 
preparing  it;  and  if  that  statement  be  correct,  he  had 
begun  his  labour  almost  as  soon  as  he  embraced  the 
Reformation.  But,  waving  all  details,  we  can  only  re- 
mark, that  whether  we  regard  the  noble  dedication  to 
Francis  I.,  enough  of  itself  to  render  its  author  illus- 
trious— or  the  comprehensive  power  of  combination 
which  the  work  evinces — or  the  amazing  acuteness  and 
grasp  of  the  author's  mind — or  the  classic  vigour  and 
elegance  of  his  style — or  the  learning  with  which  his 
views  are  supported — or  the  thorough  understanding 

*  The  curious  reader  -will  find  the  matter  largely  considered  hy 
Clement  in  his  Biblioth.  Ctirieuse,  Art.  Calvin. 
t  Audin,  i.  123. 

B 


1 8  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

of  the  Christian  system  which  it  displays — or  the  high 
degree  of  holiness  manifestly  attained  hy  the  author 
— it  is  equally  surprising  as  a  production.  We  cease 
to  wonder  that  it  instantly  became  the  means  of 
settling  the  religious  opinions  of  tens  of  thousands — 
that  it  was  employed  as  the  theological  class-book  of 
many  lands,  and  that  after  all  the  additional  lights 
derived  from  criticism  and  the  study  of  Scripture 
during  the  three  hundred  years  which  have  rolled 
away  since  it  was  published,  Calvin's  Institutes  still 
form  a  standard  on  which  men  fall  back  wherever  an 
earnest  belief  and  an  intelligent  Christianity  sway  the 
heart  and  life."*  Pm-e  religion  had  then  become  al- 
most the  sole  possession  of  a  kind  of  Pariah  caste, 
whose  opinions  led  to  the  same  results  as  the  skins  of 
wild  beasts  with  which  the  early  Christians  were 
covered,  in  the  gardens  of  Nero  —  they  occasioned 
their  torture  and  death;  and  Calvin  strove  to  show 
that  religion,  as  the  Reformers  held  it,  however  hated 
by  men,  was  noble,  and  ennobling,  because  it  was 
divine.  Even  the  prejudice  of  Popery  has  been  com- 
pelled to  do  homage  to  the  work.  Audin  compares 
the  author  to  the  war-horse  of  Job,  rushing  into  battle, 
and  says  that  Seneca  gave  fluency,  Tacitus  point,  and 
Virgil  poetic  honey,  to  the  Institutes  of  Calvin.  The 
book,  however,  in  the  a])sence  of  its  author,  was  con- 

*  One  desisfii  of  the  -work  was  to  disabuse  the  minds  of  men  as  to 
the  Reformed  doctrines,  and,  if  possible,  allay  the  storm  of  persecu- 
tion which  was  raging  so  fiercely.  Francis  I.  at  one  time  evinced 
some  misgivings  on  the  subject;  and  hence  Calvin's  endeavour  to 
deepen  the  monarch's  convictions,  and  reclaim  him  to  reason  and 
mercy. 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  19 

demned  by  the  Parliament  of  Paris  to  be  reduced  to 
ashes,  as  containing  "  damnable,  pernicious,  and  here- 
tical doctrine."  The  Inquisition  re-echoed  the  con- 
demnation. The  Koran  and  the  Talmud  of  heresy 
were  names  by  which  it  became  known.  In  short, 
it  instantly  became  the  rallying  point  or  standard  of 
the  Reformed  Churches — a  hissing  and  a  byword  to 
the  Papists.'^' 

Soon  after  the  publication  of  this  work,  Calvin  went 
into  Italy,  on  a  visit  to  Renee,  the  Duchess  of  Ferara, 
at  whose  court  some  of  the  Reformed  then  found  a 
patroness  and  an  asylum,  t  But  the  intolerance  of  the 
decaying  superstition  followed  him  thither,  and  he  was 
soon  obliged  to  flee  from  that  city  where  Ariosto  was 
treated  Hke  a  menial,  and  Tasso  harshly  immured  as 
a  common  maniac.  He  preached  the  Gospel,  how- 
ever, at  various  places  along  his  route;  among  others 
at  Aoste  in  Piedmont;  and  though  this  episode  in  his 
history  be  surrounded,  according  to  Muratori,  with 
"  a  festoon  of  dreams,"  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt, 
on  the  one  hand,  that  Calvin  was  persecuted  at  Ferara 
by  the  Inquisition;  and  on  the  other,  that  he  preached 
the  Gospel  with  success  in  different  parts  of  Italy. 
How  melancholy  the  fact,  that  the  fetters  of  spiritual 
oppression  were  then  rivetted  over  all  that  lovely 
land,  and  still  continue  to  chafe  and  to  gall  it,  in  spite 
of  these  providential  attempts  to  break  them ! 

*  The  edition  printed  at  Lausanne  1559,  contains  some  interesting 
information  as  to  tlie  zeal  with  which  the  work  was  first  studied. 

f  The  history  of  this  princess  is  one  of  the  most  affecting  of  that 
eventful  age,  and  offers  an  interesting  subject  for  a  memoir. 


20  CALYIX  AND  SERVETUS. 

Calvin  once  more  proceeded  to  Noyon,  finally  to 
arrange  liis  patrimonial  afikirs.  "While  there,  it  is 
said  that  some  even  of  the  priests  were  won  by  him 
to  the  truth.  Wherever  he  went,  he  became  a  centre 
at  once  of  attraction  and  of  influence;  and  instead  of 
that  despotism  of  mind  which  ignorance  or  prejudice 
has  ascribed  to  him,  his  whole  history  shows  that 
wherever  men  loved  the  truth,  Calvin  was  also  beloved. 
He  possessed  the  charm-like  power  of  knitting  such 
men  to  himself  in  bonds  of  closest  amity.  But  he  soon 
quitted  Noyon,  and  hastened  to  seek  some  retirement 
where  he  might  do  good  unmolested;  and  Strasburg  or 
Bale  was  again  selected  for  that  purpose.  He  had  now 
for  ever  abandoned  the  heresy  of  Rome.  His  was  not 
a  mind  to  concede  infallibility  to  a  man,  or  Godhead 
to  a  wafer  of  flour  and  water.*^"  Whatever  troubles 
might  assail  him  in  defending  the  truth,  he  now  re- 
ceived and  quenched  them  all  on  the  shield  of  faith, 
while  he  was  supported  amid  the  conflict  by  that 
grace  of  which  he  had  become  the  advocate  and 
martyr.  Niebuhr  has  remarked,  that  he  who  recalls 
into  being  what  had  vanished  from  existence,  enjoys 
a  blessedness  like  that  of  creating;  and  such  blessed- 
ness was  largely  enjoyed  by  Calvin.  "  Moriemur," 
he  said  to  Charles  Y..  "  sed  in  morte  quoque  victores 
erimus;  non  modo  quod  inde  certus  ad  meliorem  vitara 
transitus  erit,  sed  quia  sanguinem  nostrum  ad  propa- 

*  Our  feelings  are  a  mixture  of  horror  and  loathing,  when  we  read 
that  a  monkey  was  once  burned  alive  at  Paris,  by  decree  of  the  Par- 
liament, because  it  had  eaten  tUe  good  god. — Siniond''s  Switzerland^ 
vol.  ii.  p.  301. 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  21 

gandara  illam  quae   nunc  respuitur,   Dei  veritatem, 
seminis  instar  futurura  esse  scimus." 

In  seeking  a  place  of  retreat,  Calvin  passed  through 
Geneva,   where   he  designed  to  sojourn  only  for  a 
night.      When   he  arrived   there,   in  the^onthof 
August_orSeptemFef,~1n--th^  year^  1536*,   the   Re- 
formed doSrmeTTiacl   heeii   for  some   time  adopted,.. 
nnd^  dQclare^^he    religion    of  tlie    State.     AVilliam 
Farel,  a  native  of  Gap,  in  Dauphine,  and  Peter  Yiret 
of  Orbe,  were  the  instruments  employed  by  Him  who 
ruleth  over  all,  in  forwarding  that  work.    The  former 
has   been   compared  to  Cromwell,   or  to  Knox,   for 
boldness   and  decision,  and   possessed  the   trumpet- 
voice   of  a  fearless  orator;  the  latter  was  mild  and 
persuasive — his  words  were  falling  dew;  and,  under 
their  combined  influence,  the  one  uprooting,  the  other 
planting,  the  truth  was  established  on  the  ruins  of 
Popery  in  the  city  of  Geneva.     We  shall  hereafter 
find  that  a  combination  of  circumstances  favoured  this 
transition.     The  love  of  civil  liberty,  for  which  the 
Genevese  had  long  contended,  and  many  of  them  died 
— the  oppressions  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  on  the  one 
hand,  and  of  their  bishop  on  the  other,  who,  as  their 
lord  paramount,  combined  in  his  person  the  civil  and 
spiritual  power — the  example  of  Berne  and  Germany 
— their  disgust  at  the  mummery  and  gross  immorality 
of  their  priests— their  aversion  to  certain  of  the  Popish 
rites,  for  example,  auricular  confession;  in  one  word, 
the  Reformation  tended  to  stimulate  the  minds  of  the 
Genevese  in  the  direction  of  a  change.     They  fell  in 
with  the  current  of  their  age,  and  were  borne  along 


22  CALVIN  AND  SERVETIJS. 

by  it  to  the  possession  of  liberty,  civil  and  religious, 
however  unprepared  they  might  be  for  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  the  blessing. 

The  Reformation  in  Geneva  was  thus  begun  about 
the  year  1532,  in  the  train  of  various  political  com- 
motions, which  had  prevailed  for  many  years  before. 
The  people  had  long  been  exasperated  and  harassed 
by  their  rulers,  and  gladly  hailed  the  prospect  of 
emancipation.  Reformers  were  invited  to  hold  public 
discussions  with  the  priests;  and  there,  as  elsewhere, 
the  former  were  victorious.  On  the  10th  of  August, 
Farel  preached  before  the  Council;  on  the  27th,  mass 
was  abohshed;  and  on  the  30th,  the  nuns  of  St  Clair 
left  the  city,  the  monks  of  various  orders  havin<T  been 
previously  cashiered.  The  monuments  of  Popish  su- 
/  premacy  were  now  swept  away,  and  the  Reformed 

i  relifrion  became  the  creed  of  Geneva.     The  imaofes 


I 


& 


formerly  worshipped  were  thrown  into  bonfires,  and 
even  the  figures  on  the  stained  glass  of  their  windows 
were  not  spared.    The  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  supper 
\)  was  dispensed  in  the  scriptural  form.     Baptism  was 

also  freed  from  Popish  superstition,  and  reduced  to 
scriptural  simplicity  so  early  as  the  year  1533."  The 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  immediately  supplanted  the 
senseless  services  of  Popery;  and  though  it  was  too 
true,  amid  all  this,  that  Christ  came  not  to  send  peace 
on  earth,  but  a  sword,  it  was  equally  certain  that  these 
commotions  tended,  under  an  overruling  providence, 
to  promote  the  best  interests  of  men. 

Calvin  arrived  in  the  city  at  a  time  when  the  ascen- 

*  Different  dates  are  assigned  for  some  of  these  incidents. 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  23 

dency  of  a  mind  like  his  was  needed  to  preside  over  the 
interests  of  truth,  or  assuage  the  troubles  that  prevailed. 
Farel  urged  him  to  make  Geneva  his  home.  Calvin 
declined.  But  the  man  who  had,  with  his  own  hand, 
torn  down  the  crucifixes  and  idols  which  hid  the  true 
God  from  the  soul,  was  not  to  be  disappointed ;  and 
he  denounced  the  vengeance  of  Heaven  against  Cahdn, 
unless  he  gave  himself  to  the  work  of  helping  to 
establish  the  truth  at  Geneva.  The  startling  adjura- 
tion of  Farel  induced  Calvin  to  change  his  purpose  : 
"  I  denounce  you  in  the  name  of  Almighty  God,  and 
declare,  that  if  you  pretend  the  love  of  study  in  such 
a  case,  you  are  seeking  your  own  things,  and  not 
the  things  of  Christ,  unless  you  become  our  fellow- 
labourer  in  this  cause,"  were  the  words  of  the  ardent 
and  impetuous  Reformer.  "  I  felt  as  if  God  had  laid 
a  violent  hand  on  me  from  heaven,"  said  Calvin;  and 
in  that  spirit  entered  on  his  duties  in  that  little  city, 
from  which  he  w^as  destined  to  guide  the  minds  of 
tens  of  thousands  throughout  the  world. 

But  it  was  with  many  misgivings  that  Calvin  thus 
took  up  his  residence  at  Geneva.  The  city  was  still 
only  in  a  state  of  transition.  Anarchy  had  long  pre- 
vailed, and  had  by  no  means  subsided.  The  religious 
friends  of  the  Reformation  were  not  a  majority.  Calvin 
trembled  at  the  thought  of  what  he  feared  was  before 
him;  and  scarcely  had  four  months  elapsed  ere  his 
forebodings  were  verified  —  he  was  embroiled  and 
harassed  by  the  contentions  of  the  opposing  factions. 
Plot  followed  plot  in  the  distracted  city,  at  the  insti- 
gation of  enemies  without  and  within ;  and  the  misery 


24  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

of  one  who  is  described  by  himself  as  "  by  nature 
timid,  yielding,  and  retiring,"  amid  such  scenes,  may 
easily  be  understood.     He  was  stationed,  however,  on 
a  spot  where  his  powers  were  developed  to  the  full; 
and  it  were  difficult  to  say  how  much   of  Calvin's 
greatness  may  be  ascribed  to  the  fact  that  he  Avas 
placed  in  a  sphere  which  formed  the  thoroughfare 
between  several  nations  —  in  a   "  microscopic  city,*' 
the  capital  of  a  territory  which  can  scarcely  be  dis- 
cerned in  the  map  of  Europe,  yet  destined  to  become, 
under  his  presiding  influence,  in   one   sense,  more 
powerful  than  the  mightiest  of  its  empires.     Through 
the  instrumentality  of  Calvin,  and    the   blessing  of 
God  on  his  labours,  Geneva  became  to  Christendom 
w^hat  Rome  once  was,  or  what  Jerusalem  may  yet 
become,  to  the  world.     The  boast  of  Augustus  as  to 
Rome  was  true  of  Calvin  and  his  adopted  home.     He 
found  it  built  of  bricks,  and  left  it  reared  of  marble. 

But  scarcely  was  he  stationed  there,  when  men, 
accustomed  to  the  licentiousness  which  Popery  fos- 
tered, began  to  resent  the  restraints  which  religion 
enforced,  or  murmur  at  the  purity  which  the  Reformed 
ministers  inculcated.  The  general  cause  had  been 
strengthened  by  a  treaty  with  Berne  (1536),  and  the 
•  people  and  magistrates  of  Geneva  had  taken  an  oath, 
on  the  20th  of  July  1537,  to  defend  the  doctrines 
which  they  had  espoused;  but,  after  all,  unprincipled 
men  continued  to  foment  the  discord,  which  was  fa- 
vourable to  their  purposes.  Heresy,  as  in  the  case  of 
Peter  Caroli,  began  to  appear;  and  this,  together  with 
the  feuds  which  still  raged  in  Geneva,  aggravated  by 


IFE  OF  CALVIN.  25 

■ 

new  causes  of  commotion  occurring  from  day  to  day, 
at  last  drove  Calvin  from  the  city.  The  turbulent 
agitators  carried  certain  of  their  measures  subversive 
of  the  truths  of  the  established  religion;  and,  to  con- 
summate their  victory  over  all  that  was  pure  and 
peaceable,  Calvin  and  Farel  were,  on  the  23d  of  April 
1538,  ordered  to  quit  Geneva  within  three  days.  The 
decree  of  exile  was  confirmed  on  the  26th  of  May. 

"  Had  I  served  man,  this  would  have  been  a  poor 
reward;  but  it  is  well  that  I  have  served  Him  who 
never  neglects  to  perform  what  he  has  promised," 
w^as  the  reflection  of  Calvin  when  his  banishment  was 
decreed.  He  and  Farel  were  now  insulted  with  the 
lowest  ribaldry;  and  the  faction  who  had  succeeded 
in  procuring  their  banishment  did  not  rest  till  all  who 
avowed  the  tenets  which  Calvin  taught  —  among 
others,  Maturin  Cordier — were  banished  along  with 
him.  If  the  Genevese  did  not  again  embrace  their 
former  superstition,  they  relapsed  into  their  former 
vices — so  revolting,  that  even  the  narrative  would  be 
polluting.  Sorrow  for  that  misguided  people,  and  fear 
lest  he  had  given  needless  offence,  now  harassed  the 
mind  of  Calvin,  and  he  withdrew  in  deep  dejection, 
first  to  Zurich  or  to  Bale,  and  ultimately  settled  at 
Strasburg,  there  to  enjoy  the  company  of  congenial 
spirits  like  Bucer,  who  prevailed  on  him  to  sojourn 
in  that  city,  by  threatening  him  with  the  doom  of 
Jonah  if  he  declined.  Frequent  attempts  to  effect 
his  restoration  to  Geneva  were  made,  but  the  hostility 
of  his  enemies  was  aroused  afresh  as  often  as  such 
applications  were  pressed  by  his  friends.     He  was 


26  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

hated,  not  loved,  for  his  work's  sake;  and,  hke  our 
own  Welsh,  was  ever  followed  by  the  prophet's  shadow 
— the  enmity  of  the  ungodly. 

At  Strashurg  Calvin  addressed  himself  with  cha- 
racteristic zeal  to  the  defence  of  truth,  and  as  his 
principles  were  so  absolute  or  ultimate  as  to  admit  of 
no  compromise,  he  was  now  compelled  to  resist  some 
attempts  made  by  some  good  but  weak  men  to  reunite 
the  Papists  and  the  Reformed.  At  the  same  time,  he 
was  chosen  a  lecturer  in  theology  in  the  city — a  new 
church  was  founded  by  Calvin — his  lectures  attracted 
crowds  of  students  from  France  and  Germany  —  in 
short,  here,  as  at  Geneva,  his  labours  were  incessant 
and  widely  influential.  After  teaching  theology  by 
day,  he  preached  every  evening,  and  sought  in  every 
way  to  advance  the  cause  which  he  had  so  cordially 
espoused.  Nor  did  he  forget  Geneva.  Tempted  by 
the  ex-bishop  to  retm'n  to  Popery,  and  still  distracted 
by  intestine  divisions,  the  Genevese  continued  like  the 
troubled  sea;  and  though  Calvin  could  not  assuage 
them,  he  strove,  by  his  letters,  at  least  to  throw  oil 
upon  the  agitated  waters.  Cardinal  Sadolet,  the  friend 
of  Ariosto,  and  secretary  of  Leo  X.,  a  man  of  elo- 
quence, and,  for  his  age,  enlightened,  at  this  period 
addressed  the  Genevese,  in  the  hope  of  reclaiming 
them  to  Rome;  but  Calvin  threw  his  shield  over  his 
ungratefid  friends,  repelled  the  cardinal's  appeals,  re- 
futed his  subtleties,  and  rendered  the  attempt  abortive. 

After  Calvin  had  been  driven  from  Geneva,  mur- 
der followed  murder,  and  banishment  succeeded 
banishment,  in  such  rapid  succession,  that  the  city  was 


LIFE  OF  CALVIX.  27 

oftener  than  once  on  the  eve  of  being  lost  to  the  cause 
of  the  Reformation.  The  Reformer  did  what  he  could 
to  mitigate  these  evils;  but  faction  raged  so  fiercely 
against  faction,  that  all  hope  of  peace,  for  the  time, 
had  perished.  Meanwhile,  a  convention  of  those 
friendly  to  the  Reformed  cause  was  held  at  Frank- 
fort, whither  Calvin  resorted  (1539),  and  where  he 
met  the  most  conspicuous  actors  in  those  stirring 
times — Melancthon,  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  and 
others.  He  there  endeavoured  to  promote  that  union 
among  Protestants  which  ever  after  continued  a  fa- 
vourite object  with  him;  but  like  many  such  attempts, 
the  results  were  neither  lasting  nor  Avide-spread.  His 
anxiety  for  union  among  the  Reformed  was  as  intense 
as  his  aversion  to  union  with  Papists  was  determined ; 
but  the  violence  of  some,  and  the  latitudinarian  views 
of  others,  thwarted  his  endeavours.  About  this  period, 
the  Reformer  married  Idelette  de  Bure,  the  widow  of 
John  Storder  of  Liege,  whom  he  had  been  the  means 
of  rescuing  from  the  fanaticism  of  the  Anabaptists. 
Marriafje  had  now  become  one  of  the  badgfes  that  dis- 
tinguished  Reformed  ministers  from  Popish  priests. 
Secession  from  the  Romish  ranks  w^as  scarcely  reckon- 
ed complete  till  matrimony  had  consummated  the  dis- 
ruption, and  Calvin  added  the  weight  of  his  example 
to  that  of  Luther,  in  favour  of  the  scriptural  ordinance. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1 540,  Calvin  resorted 
to  Worms  and  Ratisbon,  to  be  present  at  the  con- 
ference held  there  regarding  religion,  and  was  after- 
wards at  Haguenau  on  a  similar  errand;  but  politics, 
rather  than  Christian  principle,  presided  over  the  con- 


28  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

duct  of  many,  and  our  Reformer  retired  disgusted  by 
the  vague  generalities  of  Melancthon  and  Bucer,  on 
the  one  hand — the  violence  of  the  Pope's  nuncio,  and 
the  tyranny  of  Charles  Y.,  on  the  other.  He  declared 
that  he  would  rather  be  buried  under  the  ruins  of  the 
church  of  which  he  was  a  minister,  than  be  recon- 
ciled, as  some  proposed,  to  Rome;  and  seeing  that  men 
sought  to  varnish  over,  not  to  eradicate  her  errors,  he 
boldly  declined  being  a  party  to  such  measures.  Blan- 
dishments and  caresses  were  employed  to  captivate  or 
soothe  him;  but  he  resisted  them  all.  His  religion 
came  from  the  Bible,  and  admitted  of  no  compromise. 
He  rejected  every  proposal  having  that  for  its  object; 
and,  like  Athanasius,  would  have  stood  alone  against 
the  world,  rather  than  sun-ender  one  jot  of  the  truth. 
"  We  have  need  of  bold  minds,"  he  wrote  to  Farel, 
"to  embolden  others;"  and  he  strove  to  supply  what 
was  needed.*  In  studying  his  history,  w^e  are  struck 
with  the  number  of  controversies  in  which  he  was 
engaged.  The  explanation  is,  that  he  could  neither 
himself  compromise  one  principle  of  God's  Word, 
nor  silently  suffer  others  to  dishonour  that  record  of 
truth. 

While  the  diet  of  the  empire  just  referred  to  was 
held,  the  state  of  Geneva  had  become  so  critical,  that 
nothing  seemed  likely  to  save  it  from  ruin  but  the 
recall  of  Calvin.     Death,  in  some  cases  by  violence, 

*  At  Wonns  Calvin  wrote  a  poem  in  Latin — his  only  production 
of  that  class.  It  is  a  triumphal  ode,  and  its  title  Kinnilcion.  It 
relates  to  the  downfal  of  Rome,  and  is  characterized  by  much  of 
Calvin's  energy  of  thought. 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  29 

had  thinned  the  ranks  of  his  adversaries.     Calamity 
had  softened  others.     A  messenger  was  despatched  to 
solicit  him  to  return,  and  the  influence  of  the  senates 
of  Bale,  Berne,  and  Zurich  was  brought  to  bear  on  the 
magistrates  of  Strasburg  to  favour  the  proposal.     The 
Council  of  Two  Hundred,  the  court  of  last  appeal  in 
Geneva,  was   convened,  and   unanimously  agreed  to 
press  his  recall.     On  the  following  day,  a  meeting  of 
the  people — the  source  of  all  power  in  that  city — was 
held.    They  solicited  him  also;  and  though  the  magis- 
trates of  Strasburg  for  a  time  hesitated  or  refused  to 
grant  their  consent,  it  was  ultimately  arranged  that  he 
who  alone   could  check  the  turbulence  of  Geneva 
should  ajjain  be  stationed  there.     He  longr  declined 
to  comply  with  the  requisition;  but  on  the  20th  of 
October   1540,   an   embassy   was   sent  to   Strasburg, 
which    terminated   all    the   negotiations,  and   recon- 
ducted the  Reformer,  in  a  kind  of  triumph,  to  Geneva. 
He  was  determined  that  his  recall  should  be  the  re- 
storation of  truth  to  its  due  ascendency — not  a  tribute 
to  any  individual ;  and  when  the  hand  of  Providence 
was  too  plain  to  be  longer  overlooked,  he  yielded  a 
tardy  assent.    Sorrow,  anxiety,  and  tears,  he  takes  God 
to  witness,  were  occasioned  by  this  step ;  but  Calvin 
thought  that  he  had  the  pillar  of  cloud  and  of  fire  be- 
fore him,  and  he  resolved  to  follow  it,  trusting  to  the 
God   that   has   ever   so   marvellously   defended   his 
Church. 

His  return  was  hailed  with  acclamations  of  joy  by  f- 
mp.ny  of  the  Genevese;*  and  though  he  still  had  many 

*  His  stipend  was  fixed  at  "  500  iiorins  jier  annum,  twelve  mea-  ^ 


• 


30 


CALVIN  AXD  SERVETUS. 


'> 


A 


J 


gloomy  forebodings  regarding  the  future,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  draw  up  a  code  of  edicts  or  laws  for  the 
guidance  of  the  little  republic.  At  a  subsequent  period 
■we  shall  find  how  these  laws  were  violated;  but  they 
were  passed  with  the  sanction,  and  stamped  with  the 
authority,  of  the  State.  The  civil  power  had  its  func- 
tions defined,  and  the  spiritual  had  its  province  duly 
marked  out;  and,  with  religion  presiding,  Geneva 
might  have  presented  a  fair  specimen  of  the  good 
results  of  the  co-operation  of  the  two.  In  adopting 
his  measures,  Calvin  was  not  satisfied  \\'ith  a  super- 
ficial reform.  He  aimed  at  the  extirpation  of  vice. 
He  wished  religion  and  virtue  to  be  paramount.  He 
declared  that  the  Roman  Pontiff*,  and  other  tyrants, 
were  not  so  much  to  be  dreaded  as  the  lives  of  men 
who  brought  ignomin}-,  by  their  ungodliness,  on  the 
cause  of  the  Reformation.  His  master-aim,  therefore, 
was  to  make  pure  and  undefiled  religion  supreme  in 
the  State  and  in  the  family,  as  well  as  in  the  indi- 
vidual soul.  Whatever  w^e  may  think  of  the  mode  or 
the  form,  these  were  the  principles  and  tendencies  of 
his  legislation. 

INIeasures  the  most  stringent  were  thus  adopted  to 
check  the  prevailing  immorality.  All  was  prohibited 
that  could,  by  remotest  implication,  jar  with  purity 
of  heart,  speech,  or  behaviour;  and  had  the  laws  of 
Geneva  been  such  as  could  be  enforced  by  human 


sures  of  corn,  two  tuns  of  wine,  and  a  house."  The  registers  of  the 
city,  under  date  4th  October  1541,  contain  an  entry  to  the  following 
effect :  "  Great  wages  granted  to  M.  Calvin,  in  consideration  of  his 
great  learning,  and  because  travellers  are  such  a  charge  to  him." 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  31 

authority,  Calvin's  efforts  to  complete  the  reform  of  j  ^ 
Geneva  would  have  supplied  the  first  instance  of  a  j 
perfectly  Christian  republic  which  the  world  ever  saw 
— a  religious  Atalantis — a  city  of  the  blessed.  But 
the  bow  was  overstrained,  and  it  broke.  ^^X-egisIation 
was  extended  to  men's  dress,  and  food,  and  private 
habits — spheres  in  which  the  religion  of  the  heart, 
and  not  the  enactments  of  men,  alone  can  operate. 
Yet  the  wise  Hooker  has  said :  "  This  device  I 
see  not  how  the  best  then  living  could  have  bettered, 
if  we  consider  duly  what  the  existent  state  of  the 
Genevese  did  then  require;"  and  this  is  the  best  expla- 
nation and  the  only  apology  for  Calvin's  rigid  edicts. 
But  human  laws  are  applicable  only  to  external  con- 
duct; they  can  take  no  cognizance  of  the  hidden  man 
of  the  heart.  Transgression,  as  seen  by  God,  is  not 
noticed  by  man  until  it  appears  in  an  overt  and  em- 
bodied form,  inflicting  damage  on  civil  society.  In 
short,  as  man  cannot  judge  the  heart,  his  legislation 
cannot  directly  affect  its  principles  and  motives. 

Calvin's  mind,  however,  was  transcendental  in  its 
viewi  of  God's  law.  He  had  admitted  it  to  the  sove- 
reignty of  his  own  soul;  and  in  legislating  for  Geneva, 
he  tried  to  prescribe  rules  even  for  the  souls  of  others. 
He  felt  that  the  almighty  Being  who  had  appoint- 
ed a  physical  law  to  regulate  the  beatings  of  the 
heart,  had  also  appointed  a  moral  law,  not  less  certain 
or  fixed,  to  regulate  its  motives.  Starting  with  this 
thought,  he  strove  to  order  all  at  Geneva  according  to 
f  the  revealed  mind  of  God.  Wherever  this  system  was 
^  wrong,  it  was  by  excess,  and  not  by  defect;  and  we 


/*  ^  wrong,  it  Wi 


»Y 


J 


32  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

need  scarcely  scruple  to  sa}-,  that  legislation  like  that 
of  which  Calvin  was  the  author,  with  all  the  risorism 
imputed  to  it,  was  more  in  harmony  with  the  Word  of 
God — his  mind — than  the  godless  enactments  of  more 
modern  times.  The  French  Reformer's  maxim  was, 
that  the  Bihle  is  in  everything  supreme.  To  question 
that,  was  in  his  mind  infidelity;  and  that  conviction 
is  the  basis,  or  the  starting-point,  of  his  laws.  Jesus 
applied  the  law  of  God,  with  all  its  force,  directly  to 
the  conscience  and  the  soul.  The  Reformer,  sitting 
at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  took  his  Word  to  guide  him,  and 
tried  to  do  the  same.  Erroneous  opinions  and  prin- 
ciples were  consequently  proscribed,  as  well  as  flagi- 
tious actions;  though  in  carrying  out  this  object  as  it 
did,  the  State  perhaps  attempted  what  only  God  can 
achieve  with  wayward  man. 

Yet  it  will  not  be  denied,  that  ere  the  world  can 
be  restored  to  happiness,  some  principles  of  action 
must  be  recognised  different  from  those  which  have 
hitherto  prevailed  among  the  nations,  and  presided 
over  the  legislation  of  Christendom.  Man  must  be- 
come the  child  of  reason  rather  than  of  passion;  and  to 
accomplish  that,  religion,  or  rather  God,  must  have 
the  ascendency  which  is  his  due.  The  Saviour  de- 
veloped such  principles  on  earth.  Calvin  strove  to 
render  them  paramount  at  Geneva,  as  they  claim  to 
be.  The  object  was  worthy  of  his  wide-grasping  mind ; 
and  even  to  have  failed  in  such  an  attempt,  signalized 
him  among  the  sons  of  men. 

But  men  soon  arose  to  thwart  these  laws,  and  the 
Reformer's  high-toned  legislation  occasioned  a  speedy 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  33 

reaction.  He  demanded  either  a  second  exile  or  sub- 
mission to  the  Edicts.  According  to  Hooker,  he 
"  would  either  have  his  will  or  leave  them ;"  and  he 
obtained  the  former,  though  his  new  opponents  sub- 
mitted with  a  reluctance  similar  to  that  with  which  a 
city  yields  when  famine  compels  it  to  surrender. 
Some  of  the  best  citizens  of  Geneva  confess  that  all 
its  greatness  was  owing  to  the  Edicts  thus  passed, 
and  the  courts  thus  established  by  Calvin.* 

While  thus  framing  laws  for  the  government  of 
Geneva,  in  many  respects  with  a  wisdom  which  en- 
titles him  to  Montesquieu's  eulogium :  "  The  Gene- 
vese  may  bless  the  day  that  Calvin  was  bom,"  he 
did  not  neglect  the  spiritual  well-being  of  the  people. 
About  this  time  he  published  a  catechism  for  the 
young,  which  long  continued  a  standard  among  the 
Churches  of  the  Reformation;  and  we  notice  this 
publication  here,  because  it  was  the  first  that  brought 
Calvin's  mind  in  direct  contact  with  that  of  Scotland, 
where  it  was  at  one  period  used  in  the  training  of 
youth.  At  the  same  time,  his  pastoral  labours  were 
incessant.  His  yearly  lectures  have  been  estimated 
at  one  hundred  and  eighty-six — his  sermons  at  two 
hundred  and  eighty-three.    Indeed,  he  preached  daily 

•  The  dispassionate  Sennebier  (Hist.  Literaire  de  Geneve,  torn,  i., 
p.  192)  thus  describes  these  enactments :  "  On  y  reconnoit  com- 
bien  Calvin  etait  eloigne  de  vouloir  donner  trop  de  pouvoir  au  corps 
ecclesiastique,  et  avec  quelle  prudence  il  confia  le  salut,  et  la  repu- 
tation des  citoyens  a  un  tribunal  qui  ne  pouvoit  jamais  abuser  de  ses 
pouvoirs,  tant  la  puissance  ecclesiastique  y  etoit  balancee  par  la  puis- 
sance civile;"  yet  were  they  a  source  of  interminable  struggles  on 
th«  part  of  those  who  indulged  licentiousness,  and  called  it  libertv. 

0 


V 


34 


CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 


in  the  temple,  or  taught  in  the  schools.  He  conducted 
the  business  of  the  presbytery — presided  in  the  Con- 
sistory or  session — tested  the  attainments  of  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry — gave  his  advice,  from  day  to 
day,  regarding  the  government  of  the  Republic — 
received  and  entertained  a  crowd  of  visitors,  from 
whom  his  house  was  seldom  free — corresponded  with 
the  learned  and  illustrious  in  every  land;  and,  amid 
all  these  distractions,  was  an  author  to  an  extent  that 
has  accumulated  into  nine  folio  volumes.  Yet  this 
was  the  man  who  said :  "  One  thing  I  fear — lest  I 
should  appear  to  others  to  be  an  example  of  sluggish- 
ness." Some  of  the  Reformers,  who  were  nearly 
twice  his  age,  habitually  laid  their  difficulties  before 
him  for  solution.  He  was,  in  short,  the  presiding 
spirit  of  the  sphere  in  which  he  moved.  Princes 
sought  his  counsel,  and  the  poorest  were  helped  by 
his  means.  Notwithstanding  the  acrimony  with  which 
it  has  long  been  men's  habit  to  inveigh  against  him, 
it  is  true  of  Calvin,  that  when  the  ear  heard  him,  it 
blessed  him — when  the  eye  saw,  it  gave  witness  to 
him.  He  had  enemies  both  numerous  and  powerful ; 
but  then,  as  now,  they  were  too  often  the  enemies  of 
pure  religion  as  well  as  of  our  Reformer. 

As  he  increased  in  celebrity,  scarce  a  quarter  of  the 
Christian  world  can  be  named  to  which  his  influence 
did  not  reach.  He  was  mainly  instrumental  in  send- 
ing a  mission  to  the  Brazils — the  first,  we  think, 
undertaken  by  Protestants;  but,  owing  to  the  igno- 
rance and  inexperience  of  the  men  engaged  in  it,  the 
enterprise  ended  in  disappointment  and  disaster.   Men 


^\ 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  35 

flocked  from  many  lands  to  learn  wisdom  at  Geneva, 
from  him  who  was  now  its  undisputed  chief.  Italy, 
Spain,  and  France,  were  each  represented  by  a  Church 
in  the  city;  and  so  great  was  the  influx  of  foreigners, 
attracted  chiefly  by  Calvin's  European  fame,  that  in 
the  course  of  the  sixteenth  century,  no  fewer  than 
three  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  heads  of 
families  were  enfranchised  in  Geneva,  of  whom  only 
sixteen  were  natives.  So  numerous,  indeed,  was  the 
concourse,  that  the  city  seemed  too  limited  to  contain 
them.  Yet,  prosperous  as  all  this  appears,  Calvin  was 
never  without  causes  of  deep  disquietude.  Calumny 
was  ever  busy ;  and  the  discordant  elements,  which 
had  only  been  awed  into  silence,  not  thoroughly  ex-  / 
tinguished,  threatened  from  time  to  time  to  convulse 
the  Republic  afresh.  The  new  constitution  of  Geneva 
was  the  cause  of  ever-increasing  offence  to  the  disso- 
lute, because  it  hampered  and  coerced  them  in  their 
vices,  and  no  opportunity  was  lost  to  bring  it  into  dis- 
repute. Countenanced  by  some  of  the  ejected  priests, 
the  turbulent  within  the  city  began  to  renew  their! 
contentions ;  and  the  Libertines,  a  cabal  of  dissolute/ 
citizens,  clamoured  against  the  new  canons,  for  th^ 
same  reason  that  a  prisoner  complains  of  his  jailer, 
or  the  Infidel  of  the  Word  of  God. 

This  opposition  to  Calvin  became  yet  more  keen  as 
he  endeavoured  to  mature  his  large  plans  of  reform. 
His  anxious  desires  for  frequent  communion,  and  his 
wish  to  see  the  Lord's  supper  celebrated  every  month,* 

*  "  Jam  vero  singulis  mensibva  coenam  c«Iebrari  maxime  nobis 
placeret,"  &c. — Calvin. 


/ 


36  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

gave  occasion  to  violent  hostility;  and  he  rather 
yielded  to  the  weakness  of  others  than  to  his  own 
convictions  of  what  is  right,  when  he  consented  that 
that  sacrament  should  be  dispensed  only  four  times  in  a 
year.  This,  like  all  that  he  attempted  for  man's  good, 
provoked  a  controversy  or  rather  a  conflict;  but  he  was 
relieved  for  a  little  from  the  troubles  which  disturbed 
him  at  Geneva  by  a  journey  which  he  made  to  Bale 
and  Metz,  to  aid  and  counsel  the  Churches  there. 
The  only  rest  which  he  knew  was  a  change  of  la- 
bour; and  it  were  difficult  to  decide  whether  he 
toiled  most  assiduously  for  Geneva  or  the  other 
Reformed  Churches.* 

In  the  years  1542  and  1543,  the  ravages  of  the 
plague,  accompanied  by  famine,  laid  waste  the  city, 
and  increased  the  difficulties  of  the  Reformer;  yet 
was  he  prepared  to  push  forward  the  work  of  Re- 
formation at  home,  and  repel  the  heresy  of  unholy 
men  abroad.  Albert  Pighe,  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated of  the  Roman  party,  about  this  period  singled 
out  Calvin  as  an  antagonist,  in  whom  to  overthrow 
certain  of  the  Reformed  doctrines,  especially  that 
resrarding  the  bondage  of  the  will  in  fallen  man;  but 
Pighe  was  himself  discomfited,  and  the  post  which  he 
assailed  was  rendered  stronger  than  ever  by  Calvin's 
defence  against  the  Romanist's  attack.  And,  while 
thus  engaged  against  Popish  opponents,  it  is  interest- 

*  The  magistrates  "were  not  always  ungrateful.  Again  and  again 
•we  find  in  the  registers  of  the  city  such  an  entry  as  the  foUovring  : 
"  On  donne  a  Calvin  un  tonneau  de  viu  vieux,  pour  les  peines  qu'il 
prend  de  la  ville.'' 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  37 

ing  to  notice  the  feelings  which  Calvin  cherished  to- 
ward  his  great  coteraporary,  Luther.  He  also  had 
puhlished  some  violent  invectives  against  the  Gene- 
vese  Reformer  and  his  friends;  and  had  the  latter 
been  only  the  passionate  or  vindictive  being  which 
many  suppose,  he  had  now  an  opportunity  of  gratify- 
ing his  malice  by  an  angry  reply.  But  far  from 
that  —  while  he  deplored  the  violence  of  the  great 
patriarch  of  the  Reformation,  he  remembered  the 
blessings  which  he  had  imparted  to  tlie  Church ;  and 
Calvin,  therefore,  apologized  for  Luther's  asperity, 
instead  of  attacking  himself.  With  one  hand  our 
Reformer  would  oppose  the  benefactor  of  the  world 
when  he  departed  from  the  simplicity  of  Scripture,  but 
with  the  other  he  drew  the  veil  of  kindness  over  the 
foibles  of  that  great  man.  Calvin  might  be  rigid  and 
severe,  but  it  was  against  vice,  and  the  enemies  of  the 
truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  To  all  others  he  was  pitiful 
and  courteous,  as  that  truth  taught  him  to  be;  while 
he  ever  met  the  penitent  with  that  alacrity  which  the 
generous  display  to  the  fallen,  and  was  oftener  than 
once  the  victim  of  his  own  kindly  and  forgiving 
nature. 

During  the  three-and- twenty  years  of  Calvin's  resi- 
dence at  Geneva  after  his  recall — that  is,  till  the 
period  of  his  death — his  life  may  be  likened  to  one 
long  struggle.  At  one  period,  he  was  "sing  his  ut- 
most exertions  to  counteract  the  plots  of  Charles  V., 
who  sought  to  beguile  the  Protestants,  and  turn  them 
from  their  stedfastness  by  wiles,  when  persecution  was 
found  to  be  unavailing.     At  another,  he  was  no  less 


38  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

intently  occupied  in  refuting  heresy,  and  healing  di- 
visions among  the  Reformed  themselves.  From  time 
to  time  his  antagonists  at  Geneva  occasioned  commo- 
tions and  perplexity,  and  the  lawless  conduct  of  many 
of  the  citizens  produced  utmost  sorrow.*  At  the 
same  period,  the  sufferings  of  the  Waldenses,  so  cruelly 
massacred  in  Cabrieres  and  Merindoles,  at  the  com- 
mand of  Du  Bellai,  governor  of  Piedmont,  called  for 
his  interference,  and  all  his  endeavours  were  put  forth 
on  their  behalf,  and  that  at  a  time  when  internal 
factions,  urged  on  by  foreign  hostility,  demanded  his 
utmost  energies  successfnlly  to  meet  them.  He  had 
now  reached  such  an  eminence  among  the  Reformed, 
that  they  rarely  mentioned  his  name  without  a  prayer 
for  his  safety;  and  it  is  scarcely  too  much  to  say,  that 
on  one  so  signalized  the  care  of  all  the  Churches  was 
laid.  Among  other  things,  Calvin,  like  our  own  Re- 
formers, had  a  keen  struggle  to  maintain  with  the 
cupidity  of  those  who  had  seized  on  and  secularized 
the  property  of  the  Church.  He  was  anxious  to  re- 
cover it,  as  the  means  of  promoting  the  general  inte- 
rests of  truth  and  righteousness;  and  though  his  life 
was  pre-eminently  a  warfare,  few  of  his  struggles  oc- 
casioned more  annoyance  than  this.  As  we  trace  the 
history  of  such  endeavours,  we  cannot  help  conclud- 
ing, that  if  Calvin  sacrificed  his  repose  to  his  ambi- 
tion of  ruling  at  Geneva,  as  his  flippant  and  shallow 

*  When  the  plague  raged  in  1545,  so  abandoned  were  some  of 
them,  that  they  actually  agreed  to  take  measures  for  spreading  the 
infection,  and  too  fatally  succeeded  before  their  plot  was  discovered. 


LIFE  OP  CALVIN.  39 

censors  suppose,  he  acted  like  the  maniac  who  leaped 
into  the  crater  of  Etna  to  secure  immortality.* 

Amid  these  commotions,  Calvin  again  and  again 
contemplated  abandoning  his  post  at  Geneva.  Disease, 
and  even  want,t  added  to  the  illness  of  his  wife,  were 
pressing  on  him,  and  these,  eked  out  by  his  more 
public  trials,  extorted  from  him  the  desire  to  leave 
the  city,  at  least  for  a  season,  "  even  though  he  should 
creep  on  his  hands  "  away  from  it.  About  the  same 
period  (1546),  as  we  shall  afterwards  find,  Servetus 
renewed  his  correspondence  w^ith  him,  and  at  once 
added  to  his  troubles,  and  drew  forth  the  declaration, 
that  if  that  heretic  visited  Geneva,  Calvin  would  use 
his  endeavour  to  prevent  him  from  leaving  it  alive. 
But  it  was  Amied  Perrin,  now  chosen  Captain-  J 
general  of  the  Republic,  who  chiefly  thwarted  the 
Reformer's  plans;  and  a  struggle  between  them  be- 
gan about  this  period,  which  ended  only  with  Perrin's 
exile.  If  we  may  believe  the  records  of  those  times, 
his  family  were  conspicuous  above  all  others  in  Geneva, 
at  once  for  their  wealth  and  their  dissoluteness;  and 

*  The  following  extracts  from  the  registers  of  the  city  are  curi- 
ous : — "  On  lui  (Calvin)  fit  present  le  29  December  1547,  de  tons 
les  utensiles  de  son  menage  qui  etait  a  la  seigneurie.  II  refusa  le  5 
June  1553,  deux-ecus  d'or  sol,  que  le  conseil  vouloit  lui  donner,  pour 
les  peines  qui'il  avait  prises  pour  I'etat  de  Berne.  Le  conseil  lui 
ayant  envoye  du  bois  pour  se  chauffer  le  28  December,  1556,  il  en 
apporta  Targent  que  Ton  ne  voulut  pas  accepter.  Le  conseil  lui 
envoya  le  14  Mai  1560,  un  tonneau  du  meilleur  vin  qu'on  peut 
trouver  parce  qn'il  n'en  avait  pas  du  bon.  II  eut  beaucoup  de 
peine  a  recevoir  25  ecus  pour  les  frais  de  sa  raaladie,  et  pria  instam- 
ment  le  conseil  de  les  reprendre  le  22  June  1563." 

*)•  "  II  se  trouvait  en  uecessite." 


40  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

crime  after  crime  alleged  against  them  had  become 
subjects  of  inquiry  before  the  Consistory.  The  Gene- 
vese  ministers,  when  they  entered  upon  office,  swore 
"  never  to  abuse  God's  Word  to  serve  their  carnal 
affections,  or  to  please  any  man ;"  and  Calvin  did  not 
violate  his  oath.  The  moral  outrages  which  had  tar- 
nished the  new  polity  of  Geneva  were  punished  in 
the  persons  of  Perrin  and  some  of  his  kindred;  and 
hence  arose  the  warfare  that  raged  so  keenly  and  so 
long  between  the  Reformer  and  the  Captain-general 
of  the  State.* 

The  death  of  Luther,  in  1546,  was  embraced  as 
affording  a  favourable  opportunity  for  promoting  union 
among  the  Protestants.  Calvin  again  entered  warmly 
into  the  measure  in  which  he  had  formerly  been 
baffled,  and  proposed  to  Melancthon  a  mode  of  ex- 
plaining the  chief  causes  of  difference  which,  he 
thought,  might  have  tended  to  harmony — so  desirable 
for  all,  so  peculiarly  precious  to  the  large  and  catholic 
soul  of  Calvin.  But  the  prospect  of  peace  was  soon 
overcast.  The  controversy  regarding  the  Lord's  sup- 
per divided  the  Churches;  and  though  Calvin  made 
concessions  which  exposed  him  to  the  censure  of  some 

*  The  history  of  Perrin's  proceedings  may  be  seen  in  Calvini 
Epistolce,  No.  207.  When  Perrin  tied  from  the  city,  he  was  exe- 
cuted in  effigy,  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Republic;  yet  it  must 
be  confessed,  that  some  of  the  laws  against  which  the  Libertines 
reclaimed  appear  ludicrous  when  seen  in  the  light  of  modern 
legislation.  For  example,  it  was  enacted,  "  That  no  man,  in  what 
state,  qualitie,  or  condition  soever  he  might  be,  dareth  be  so  bardie 
to  make,  or  cause  to  be  made,  or  to  wear  hosen,  or  doublettes  cut, 
jagged,  embroydered,  or  lined  with  silk,  upon  payne  to  forfeyte 
sixty  sous." — Laives  of  Geneva,  &c.,  p.  71. 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  41 

of  the  Protestants,  the  breach  was  widened  rather  than 
filled  up.  At  the  same  time,  Perrin  and  his  allies 
had  matured  their  plans  for  embroiling,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, for  banishing  the  Reformer.  Such  was  the 
condition  of  the  city  at  this  critical  period,  that  wild 
popular  tumults  were  produced;  and  nothing  could 
arert  the  threatened  anarchy  but  the  boldness  and 
decision  of  Calvin.  While  the  city  was  in  a  state  of 
uproar  and  misrule,  he  rushed  into  the  midst  of  the 
rioters,  and  his  opportune  intrepidity  awed  the  mob. 
He  declared  that  he  had  come  among  them  to  offer 
his  bosom  to  their  swords,  and  called  on  them  to  make 
him  their  first  victim,  if  they  wished  for  blood.  The 
appeal  stilled  the  tumult,  and  saved  the  city;*  but  it 
was  a  new  source  of  bitterness  to  the  Reformer. 

James  Gruet,  a  leader  of  the  Libertine  faction,  was 
beheaded  at  Geneva  in  1547.  He  w^as  condemned 
on  a  charge  of  blasphemy,  in  terms  of  the  Edicts  of 
the  city;  and  it  has  been  supposed  that  he  died  a 
martyr  to  freedom  of  opinion.  His  conduct,  however, 
was  such  as  to  outrage  all  the  laws  of  the  State.  The 
mere  catalogue  of  his  crimes,  as  given  by  Spon  and 
Sennebier,  is  such  as  to  show  that  the  civil  arm  was 
bound  to  interfere  in  defence  of  the  rights  of  society, 
though  religious  errors  formed  part  of  the  charges 
against  him. 

But  all  local  considerations  were  again  merged  in 
the  danger  w^hich  threatened  the  Churches,  when 
Charles  Y.  devised  and  promulgated  new  and  insi- 
dious  measures  for  checking  the  Reformation.      It 

*  See  Calv.  Ejnsti,  No.  82. 


42  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

could  not  be  put  down  by  force,  and  must,  therefore, 
be  assailed  by  stratagem.  A  document,  entitled  the 
Interim^  was  accordingly  published,  with  the  design 
of  restoring  Popery,  or  reclaiming  the  Protestants; 
and  its  statements  were  so  ambiguous,  ensnaring,  and 
dangerous,  that  Calvin  said,  the  Reformers  must  now 
be  "  as  ready  for  suffering  as  if  the  sword  were  raised 
above  their  heads,  or  the  fires  kindled  to  consume 
them."  It  aimed  at  the  same  result,  and  produced 
the  same  evils,  as  the  Indulgences  granted  to  our 
struggling  forefathers ;  but  our  Reformer  boldly  faced 
the  danger,  and  his  efforts,  both  in  correspondence 
and  as  an  author,  were  blessed  to  diminish  the  peril, 
by  inspiriting  men  to  meet  it. 

In  the  hope  of  healing  the  divisions  at  Geneva, 
Calvin,  after  some  negotiations,  proposed  to  restore 
Perrin  to  the  position  of  influence  which  he  had  lost 
by  his  outrages;  and  for  a  time  this  generosity  was 
rewarded  with  peace.  But  fresh  commotions  soon 
arose.  The  city  became  again  like  the  troubled  sea. 
Truth  and  error — the  flesh  and  the  spirit — religion 
and  the  natural  heart,  were  in  conflict;  and  tumult  was 
the  result.  A  Popish  writer,  Bernini,*  makes  Calvin 
behead  Perrin  on  the  altar-stone  of  the  Cathedral  in 
Geneva;  and  though  that  deed  had  actually  been 
perpetrated,  the  violence  of  many  against  him  could 
scarcely  have  been  more  intense.  There  were,  how- 
ever, some  sources  of  solace  opened  up  to  the  Reformer 
amid  his  troubles.  He  rejoiced  to  find  England  ac- 
tively engaged  in  the  work  of  Reformation,  and  wrote 

*  Historia  di  tutte  I'Heresie. 


LIFE  OP  CALVIN.  43 

to  the  Duke  of  Somerset,  then  protector  of  the  king- 
dom, on  the  subject;  urged  him  forward  in  the  work 
of  sweeping  away  abuses  and  every  relic  of  supersti- 
tion, and  plied  him  with  all  the  arguments  which 
experience  or  principle  suggested,  for  completing  what 
had  been  so  well  begun.  There  are  many  now  in  the 
Church  of  England  who  labour  to  disprove  the  share 
which  Calvin  took  in  promoting  the  Reformation  of 
their  country,  or  the  ascendency  which  he  and  his 
opinions  held  over  the  minds  of  her  greatest  and 
most  honoured  men,  the  founders  of  their  Church's 
polity,  and  till  lately,  her  boast  and  her  glory. 
But  the  history  of  the  period  must  be  mutilated  or 
effaced  before  the  attempt  succeed.  Nothing  can 
more  clearly  evince  the  hardihood  of  men  in  denying 
the  best  authenticated  events,  when  partisanship  de- 
mands the  denial,  than  the  endeavours  in  question. 
Cranmer,  Ridley,  Parker,  and  other  English  Refor- 
mers, were  Calvin's  correspondents;  and  though  he 
chid  the  "  tolerable  fooleries"  which  they  retained  in 
their  liturgy  and  service,  he  at  the  same  time  strove 
with  all  his  energy  to  advance  the  cause  of  truth 
among  them.  It  is  an  ungrateful  requital  for  his 
labours  to  deny  that  he  laboured  at  all.  Calvin  was 
thanked  by  Archbishop  Parker,  in  Queen  Elizabeth's 
name,  for  his  interest  in  reforming  England;  and  that 
single  fact  refutes  a  thousand  calumnies.* 

To  add  to  his  other  sorrows,  Calvin's  wife  died  in 
the  year  1549.  From  his  letters  on  the  subject,  it 
appears  that  she  was  an  helpmate  worthy  of  such  a 

♦  See  Toplady's  Historic  Proof,  pp.  367-381. 


44  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

man.  His  was,  therefore,  though  a  deep,  not  a  hope- 
less sorrow;  he  felt,  but  was  not  overAvhelmed. 
Amid  his  trials,  he  practised  as  he  taught;  so  that  his 
example  confirmed  what  his  lips  proclaimed,  although 
his  sorrow  was  so  great  that  seven  years  after  his 
bereavement,  he  referred  to  it  with  feeling  remem- 
brance. The  void  which  her  departure  occasioned 
was  great,  but  grace  in  him  was  greater  still;  and 
he  bore  his  calamity  as  a  Christian  should  do.  It  is 
pleasing  to  study  the  conduct  of  one  so  signalized 
as  Calvin,  when  thus  placed  on  a  level  with  com- 
mon mortals  by  the  hand  of  death.  Christendom 
now  acknowledged  his  pre-eminence  —  sovereigns 
sought  his  aid — even  Rome  felt  uneasy  at  his  power; 
but  his  character  never  seems  greater  than  when  he 
mourns  the  death  of  his  consort,  and  comes  down 
from  the  heidit  to  which  Providence  had  raised  him 
to  minofle  in  the  sorrows,  and  manifest  the  tenderness 
of  man.  The  power  which  subjugated  the  Genevese 
factions,  or  guided  the  Reformed  Churches,  and  the 
affection  which  tended  the  sick-bed  of  a  dying  wife, 
were  in  Calvin's  mind  only  different  aspects  of  the 
same  lofty  principle  —  dependence  on  a  covenant 
God. 

Lelius  Socinus,  Servetus,  and  others,  by  the  heresies 
which  they  spread  about  this  period  (1549),  tended  to 
endanger  or  to  weaken  the  cause  of  the  Reformation, 
or  even  to  undermine  revelation  itself;  and  Calvin's 
attention  was  turned  to  the  increasing  evil.  While  he 
strove  to  check  their  ruinous  heresy,  he  was  not  un- 
mindful either  ot  promoting  peace  among  the  Refor- 


LIFE  OF  CALYIN.  45 

mers  or  proclaiming  war  at  once  against  the  craft  and 
the  cruelty  of  Charles  and  the  persecutors.  In  conse- 
quence of  his  untiring  assiduity,  and  his  influence  over 
men,  a  decree  "was  passed  about  this  time,  enacting 
that  those  who  were  guilty  of  holding  intercourse 
with  Geneva  should  be  burned  to  death  at  a  slow  fire.* 
Religious  reform  so  wrought  on  men's  minds,  that 
liberty  at  once  for  the  body  and  the  soul  became  a 
passion  burning  intensely,  and  earnestly  pursued;  and 
the  tyrants  of  that  age  sought  to  crush  that  spirit, 
where  the  serpents  sought  to  crush  the  infant  Her- 
cules— in  its  cradle,  Geneva. 

Any  one  who  has  devoted  due  attention  to  Cal- 
yin  s  history,  or  has  examined  his  manuscripts  in  the 
library  of  Geneva,  will  have  no  diflSculty  in  conclud- 
ing that  he  kept  the  consciences  of  a  large  portion  of 
Europe.t  Yet  it  were  a  pleasing  task,  and  might  dis- 
abuse the  minds  of  his  traducers,  to  show  the  mildness 
with  which  he  dealt  with  all  who  were  in  quest  of 
truth  :  "  Let  my  name  be  unknown,  or  utterly  buried 
—if  the  truth  prevail,"  was  his  constant  maxim ;  and 
it  at  once  explains  the  secret  of  his  ascendency,  and 
prompts  our  surprise  at  the  bitterness  with  which  his 
memory  is  assailed.  There  were  men  who  resorted ' 
to  Geneva  to  impose  on  Calvin's  benevolence,  and 
who,  when  detected,  like  Bolsec  and  Baldouin,  be- 
came his  bitterest  enemies.     Their  enmity  we  can 

*  Hist,  des  Eglises,  ascribed  to  Beza,  vol.  i.,  p.  82. 

•f*  Among  the  folio  manuscripts  of  Calvin  there  is  one  fasciculus^ 
with  the  following  title  :  "  Lettres  par  divers  Rois,  Princes,  Seig- 
neurs, et  Dames  pour  le  consulter  surles  cas  de  conscience  epineaux, 
ou  pour  le  remercier  de  8es  ouvrages.'* , 


46  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

understand;  but  for  men  who  profess  to  love  truth 
and  godliness,  to  assail  the  Reformer,  can  be  the  re- 
sult only  of  ignorance  and  prejudice. 

Owing  to  the  toils  and  perils  to  which  Calvin  was 
exposed,  the  report  was  repeatedly  circulated  that  he 
was  dead;  a  general  rumour  of  that  kind  prevailed  in 
1551,  and  so  greatly  were  the  monks  of  his  native 
city,  Noyon,  dehghted  by  the  intelligence,  that  they 
went  in  solemn  procession  to  render  thanks  to  God 
for  the  heresiarch's  death.  He  thus  learned  his  own 
importance  in  their  eyes — while  he  was  at  the  time 
busily  engaged  in  defending  the  truth  which  those 
monks  corrupted,  and  conducting  a  controversy  against 
Jerome  Bolsec,  on  the  subject  of  predestination.  It 
led  to  the  fickle  Bolsec's  expulsion  from  the  city; 
and  had  not  the  future  conduct  of  that  versatile 
Frenchman,  who  relapsed  into  Popery,  proved  that  his 
heart  was  unsound,  the  judgment  of  the  magistrates 
against  him  might  have  been  reckoned  severe.  He 
was  one  of  those  unstable  yet  pretending  men,  who 
are  most  sorely  punished  by  neglect;  and,  perhaps, 
Calvin's  great  reputation  was  not  advanced  by  the 
part  which  he  took  against  him.  He  was,  in  truth, 
r  too  mean  an  opponent  for  our  Reformer;  and  only 
the  critical  position  to  which  Geneva  was  reduced  by 
the  violence  of  faction  could  justify  any  proceeding 
against  one  so  vacillating  or  so  feeble  as  Bolsec. 

In  the  year  1552,  the  faction  at  Geneva  again 
became  as  turbulent  as  ever.  Their  malice  was  now 
chiefly  directed  against  the  refugees  from  Italy,  France, 
and  other  Popish  countries,  whom  Calvin  befriended, 


LIFE  OP  CALVLV.  4? 

and  who  were  devotedly  attached  to  him  in  return. 
Cabals  were  formed,  and  plans  were  laid  which,  had 
they  succeeded,  would  have  driven  Calvin  into  exile, 
and  perhaps  hurried  some  of  the  refugees  to  the  stake. 
It  was  amid  scenes  such  as  these  that  the  year  1553 
dawned  on  the  little  city  of  Geneva — the  year  in 
which  the  unhappy  Servetus  arrived  in  it,  and  ^^as 
hurried  to  a  death  by  many  reckoned  that  of  a  mar- 
tyr. In  subsequent  chapters,  the  different  steps  of 
his  lamentable  trial  will  be  traced  with  the  accuracy 
of  history,  and  an  evidence  that  may  supersede  all 
future  inquiry.* 

Subsequent  to  the  trial  of  Servetus,  the  controversy 
between  the  civil  and  the  spiritual  courts,  regarding 
the  power  of  excommunication,  was  carried  on  with 
oppressive  injustice  on  the  one  hand,  and  great  bold- 
ness on  the  other.  The^  Edicts  of  the  city,  based  on 
the  Word  of  God,  had  vested  that  power  where  it 
ought  to  be — in  the  hands  of  the  spiritual  rulers;  but 
the  magistrates  had  illegally  seized  on  the  power, 
and  restored  Philibert  Berthelier,  an  excommunicated 
person,  to  his  place  at  the  Lord's  table.  The  mini- 
sters of  the  city  reclaimed,  because  the  laws  both  of 
the  Scriptures  and  the  Republic  were  outraged;  and 
hence  arose  a  long  protracted  struggle  between  the 
spiritual  and  the  civil  powers,  which  terminated  in  an 
appeal  to  the  Helvetic  Churches  as  umpires.  They 
unanimously  decided  in  favour  of  Calvin ;  so  that  a 
new  triumph  gave  new  consolidation  to  his  power.t 

•  This  refers  to  the  following  translations  from  Rilliet. 

+  This  contest  will  be  described  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this 


48  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

Rather  than  submit  to  Erastian  interference,  Calvin 
'  was  determined  either  to  die  or  be  driven  again  into 
banishment.  His  decision  for  the  truth  was  blessed 
J  to  secure  a  victory;  and  the  obnoxious  decree  of  the 
Council,  constituting  the  civil  magistrate  a  judge  in 
spiritual  things,  was  rescinded. 

Meanwhile  the  heresy  of  Servetus  was  spreading — 
Poland,  Hungary,  and  other  places  began  to  be  infect- 
ed; and  when  the  grief  of  this  was  added  to  his  other 
sorrows,  Calvin  at  last  determined  to  quit  Geneva. 
For  now  nearly  twenty  years,  he  had  scarcely  known 
repose  within  its  walls,  and  as  connection  with  him 
exposed  its  citizens  to  persecution  and  death,  as  soon 
as  the  oppressors  had  them  in  their  power,  he  was 
anxious  at  once  to  free  others  from  such  danger,  and 
himself  from  such  misery.  But  about  that  period 
(1554)  our  Knox  arrived  at  Geneva;  and,  encouraged 
by  such  a  coadjutor,  Calvin  continued  to  resist  his 
enemies  and  uphold  the  truth,  as  before.  Their  kin- 
dred feelings,  and  principles,  and  aspirations  made 
them  the  helpers  of  each  others  joys,  and  the  soothers 
of  each  others  sorrows;  and  amid  the  commotions 
which  so  often  convulsed  Geneva,  a  friendship  was 
formed  between  these  two  men  which  influenced  not 
merely  their  respective  Churches,  but  whose  effects 
will  stretch  into  eternity,  as  they  helped  to  dissipate 
spiritual  darkness  from  many  a  mind,  and  teach  thou- 

Tolume.  It  entered  largely,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  into  the  causes 
■which  decided  the  doom  of  Servetus — though  this  has  never  yet 
been  adverted  to  with  that  care  which  justice  to  the  Reformer's 
memory  demands. 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  49 

sands  to  stand  fast  in  their  spiritual  freedom.  Nor 
was  such  a  comforter  unneeded  by  Calvin.  The 
bloody  Mary  now  filled  the  English  throne.  God- 
liness was  dragged  to  the  stake  or  driven  into  exile; 
and  hence  Geneva  had  become  an  asylum  for  the 
persecuted  from  England  as  well  as  from  other  lands. 
Indeed,  whether  heresy  infected,  or  persecution  peeled 
and  scattered,  the  Churches,  it  was  felt  as  a  local 
disaster  in  that  city,  so  close  were  its  connections  with 
every  Reformed  country.  While  Calvin  bewailed  the 
death  of  Ridley  and  Latimer  in  England,  and  the 
burning  of  all  but  uncounted  multitudes  in  France, 
our  countryman,  installed  as  minister  of  an  English 
congregation  at  Geneva,  aided  him  with  his  counsels, 
or  participated  in  his  sorrows.  A  Protestant  Church 
was  at  the  same  time  organized  in  Poland;  and  "  the 
Christian  Hercules,"*  at  the  request  of  the  king,  drew 
up  its  constitution.  But  while  he  was  endeavouring  to 
plant  the  seeds  of  truth  in  that  kingdom,  the  disciples 
of  Servetus  began  to  grow  bold  at  Geneva.  Matthew 
Gribaldo,  a  lawyer  of  some  celebrity,  adopted  that 
unhappy  man's  tenets;  and  much  dispeace  to  the 
Reformer  and  the  Republic  was  the  result. 

In  consequence  of  Calvin's  harassing  employments 
and  crowding  cares,  his  health,  which  had  always  been 
delicate,  now  began  to  decline.  He  was  still  in  the 
vigour  of  life;  but  trials  and  engagements  like  his 
antedate  old  age;  and  in  the  year  1556,  when  only  in 
his  forty-seventh  year,  he  was  seized  with  an  illness 
in  the  pulpit — where  it  might  almost  be  said  that  he 

*  Beza's  name  for  Calvin. 
D 


50  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

lived — which  forced  him  for  a  season,  in  some  mea- 
sure, to  withdraw  from  public  life.  But  amid  his 
trials,  he  continued  to  he  cheered  by  the  presence  of 
Knox;  and  our  own  Reformer  has  recorded  the  joy 
which  he  felt  at  witnessing  the  reformation  now  pro- 
duced by  Calvin's  instrumentality  at  Geneva.  The 
ecclesiastical  discipline,  which  the  great  Conde  visited 
that  city  avowedly  to  examine,  and  which  was  so 
offensive  to  the  licentious,  but  so  promotive  of  purity 
when  administered  according  to  the  Word  of  God,  had 
led  to  its  proper  results ;  and  Knox  gives  this  testi- 
mony to  their  extent :  "  I  neither  fear,"  he  says,  "  nor 
shame  to  say  that  Geneva  is  the  most  perfect  school 
of  Christ  that  ever  w^as  in  the  earth  since  the  days  of 
the  apostles.  In  other  places,  I  confess  Christ  to  be 
truly  preached,  but  manners  and  religion  so  sincerely 
reformed,  I  have  not  yet  seen  in  any  other  place 
beside."*  In  proportion  to  his  self-sacrificing  efforts 
was  the  obloquy  of  Calvin's  enemies;  but  his  soul 
was  borne  up  and  onwards  by  the  sight  of  good  ac- 
complished, and  of  men  reformed  well-nigh  in  spite 
of  themselves,  and  he  continued  to  act  as  "  the  prop 
of  the  Reformation,"  until,  directly  or  indirectly,  all 
its  Churches  felt  the  influence  of  his  mind.  The 
glory  of  God  is  the  final  cause  of  religion.  An- 
tagonism on  the  part  of  his  people  against  all  evil  is 

*  A  similar  testimony  has  been  borne  to  the  effects  of  the  plat- 
form -which  Knox  himself  set  up  in  Scotland.  After  referring  to 
the  changes,  Kirkton  says  :  "  Scotland  hath  ever  been  by  emulous 
foreigners  called  Philadelphia;  and  now  (1649)  she  seemed  to  be 
in  her  flower." 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  51 

the  law  of  working  it  out;  and  Calvin  threw  himselt 
heart  and  soul  into  the  work — the  noblest,  nay,  the 
only  noble  one,  that  can  engross  the  attention  of  man. 

The  closing  years  of  his  life  were  naturally  of  a  less 
stirring  kind  than  those  which  went  before.  Bland- 
rata,  Alciati,  Stancari,  Gentili,  and  other  ingenious  but 
unstable  men,  who  appear  to  have  adopted  the  errors 
of  Servetus,  with  various  modifications,  and  thus  de- 
parted far  from  the  simplicity  of  the  truth,  often  dis- 
turbed the  peace  of  his  declining  days;  and  a  renewed 
attack  of  his  former  illness,  in  his  fiftieth  year,  tended 
further  to  enfeeble  the  venerable  man.  For  eight 
months  he  was  unable  for  public  duty ;  but  his  days 
and  nights,  in  spite  of  every  remonstrance,  were  still 
given  to  the  work  of  counselling  the  Churches.  From 
the  effects  of  this  illness  he  never  completely  recovered. 
His  right  leg  continued  ever  after  so  weak  that  he 
often  required  to  be  carried  to  his  pulpit  or  his  chair. 
His  soul  had  over-informed  and  over-tasked  his  feeble 
frame,  and  premature  old  age  was  the  result. 

In  the  year  1558  Knox  was  invited  to  return  to 
Scotland.  At  Calvin's  urgent  suit,  he  consented  to 
the  proposal;  and  these  noble  brothers  separated  in 
the  month  of  January  1559,  till  they  should  meet 
before  the  throne.  The  period  of  his  departure  was 
critical,  and  Calvin,  no  doubt,  felt  his  isolation.  A 
plot  had  been  formed  to  crush  Genevese  liberty,  and 
re-annex  the  Republic  to  Savoy.  Henry  II.  of  France 
was  at  the  head  of  the  scheme ;  but,  when  meditating 
that  design,  he  was  killed  in  a  tournament  by  one  of 
his  own  officers;  and  the  alarms  of  Calvin  for  his 


52  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

adopted  home  were  thus  providentially  dispelled. 
They  had  only  increased,  while  they  lasted,  his  zeal 
for  advancing  its  welfare;  and,  co-operating  with  some 
of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  time,  he  now  carried 
into  effect  what  had  long  been  with  him  a  favourite 
project — the  founding  of  a  Seminary  such  as  the  wants 
of  the  age  and  the  celebrity  of  Geneva  demanded. 
The  distinguished  Bonnivard  helped  to  endow  it. 
Beza  was  its  first  president,  and  it  soon  became  as 
famed  as  the  city  in  which  it  was  established.  The 
spirit  which  reared  that  institution  was  kindred  with 
that  which  animated  Knox  in  his  educational  plans; 
and  the  pre-eminence  of  Geneva  and  Scotland  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth  attests  the  far-seeing  wisdom 
of  the  Reformers. 

Calvin  was  now  much  enfeebled,  in  consequence  of 
an  effusion  of  blood  from  the  lungs,  added  to  his 
other  ailments  and  debility.  He  was,  at  the  same 
time,  distracted  by  increasing  solicitations  for  counsel 
from  every  land;  while  the  number  of  his  stanch 
and  untiring  antagonists  appeared  to  increase  with  his 
years.  A  mere  catalogue  of  their  names  induces  us 
to  wonder  how  one  enfeebled  and  prematurely  aged 
man  could  encoimter  them  all,  and  that  nearly  at 
the  same  time.  Blandrata,  Gentili,  Stancari,  Grib- 
aldo,  Baldouin,  Castalio,  Heshuse,  and  others,  felt 
his  controversial  power,  either  together  or  in  rapid 
succession,  while  he  continued  to  publish  commentary 
upon  commentary,  and  treatise  upon  treatise,  as  if  he 
had  lived  utterly  retired  and  secluded  from  the  activi- 
ties of  his  stirring  times.     The  loss  of  Knox  was  now 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  53 

compensated  by  the  acquisition  of  Theodore  Beza, 
sent  in  providence  as  a  comforter  to  the  Refonner's 
closing  days ;  and  his  heart  was  re-animated  thereby, 
as  well  as  by  the  tidings  that  persecution  was  be- 
coming less  hot  in  France,  and  pure  religion  more 
and  more  vigorous  in  Poland.  It  is  pleasing  to  notice, 
amid  all  his  pains,  how  warm  was  the  interest  which 
he  continued  to  take  in  the  welfare  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland — indeed,  of  every  Church  which  would 
listen  to  his  counsels ;  and  it  is  no  less  gratifying  to 
observe  the  change  that  had  at  last  come  over  the 
people  and  rulers  of  Geneva  towards  their  great  Re- 
former. The  Protestant  princes  invited  Calvin  to  be 
present  at  a  conference  held  at  Poissy,  in  France,  that 
they  might  be  aided  by  his  advice;  but  the  Council 
of  Geneva  would  not  grant  their  consent,  unless  host- 
ages "  of  the  first  rank"  were  given  for  his  safe-con- 
duct and  return.*  No  longer  hated  and  traduced, 
men  had  learned  to  bow  to  his  authority,  if  they  had 
not  all  imbibed  his  spirit;  and  he  gradually  became 
the  object  of  as  deep  veneration  as  he  had  formerly 
been  the  victim  of  contumely  and  persecution. 

Two  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  Reformed 
Churches  had  now  been  planted  in  France.  His 
native  country  had  cast  him  out — his  native  city 
had  returned  thanks  to  God  for  his  supposed  death ; 
and  the  founding  of  these  churches  was  the  Reformer's 
revenge.  In  Germany,  Luther  operated  on  the  spot; 
the  same  is  true  of  Knox  in  Scotland;  but  Calvin 
laboured  at  a  distance,  by  his  letters  and  his  books, 

*  Spon,  i.,  307,  Note  O. 


54  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

not  by  his  present  person  and  his  living  voice — and 
yet  his  efforts,  blessed  by  God,  were  crowned  with  the 
success  which  we  have  mentioned.  He  and  his  co- 
adjutors wielding  their  weapons  from  afar,  shook  the 
superstition  of  a  nation.  It  was  the  power  of  truth — 
the  manifest  interposition  of  Heaven — the  little  stone 
cut  out  of  the  mountain  gradually  covering  the  land. 

But  his  debility  increased,  and  his  complaints 
gradually  became  more  numerous  and  overpowering. 
At  last,  intestinal  inflammation  reduced  his  strength, 
so  far  as  to  threaten  to  cut  him  off  (8  th  October 
15G1 ).  Perpetual  vomitings,  and  a  general  upbreak- 
ing  of  his  overwrought  constitution,  were  added  to 
his  other  symptoms.  From  time  to  time,  however, 
he  was  able  to  preach;  nor  did  his  other  labours  ter- 
minate— it  was  with  reluctance  that  they  were  even 
diminished.  His  correspondence  with  all  the  Churches 
was  still  maintained  ;  and  had  it  been  otherwise,  he 
could  ill  have  been  spared.  Civil  war  now  began  to 
devastate  France ;  and  those  woes  commenced  by 
which  wicked  men  sought  to  extirpate  religion  from 
that  land,  which  eventually  deluged  it  with  blood,  or 
turned  it  into  a  hunting-field  for  Popery  to  let  loose 
its  vengeance  against  the  truth — a  preserve  in  which 
victims  might  be  prepared  in  holocausts — in  hundreds 
of  thousands,  for  the  Man  of  Sin. 

But  though  Calvin  revived  from  time  to  time, 
his  bodily  vigour  was  broken.  He  was  still  able, 
however,  occasionally  to  preach  and  lecture,  and  even 
to  address  the  Emperor  Charles  once  more  on  the 
subject  of  his  untiring  persecutions.     But  the  record 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  55 

of  his  life  henceforth  (1562)  becomes  little  more  than 
a  register  of  sufferings;  and  it  was  only  because  he 
could  not  exist  apart  from  the  cause  to  which  all  his 
energies  were  devoted,  that  he  continued  to  revise 
and  republish  his  works,  or  even  to  originate  new 
productions.*  His  interest  in  the  rehgious  welfare 
of  Poland  was  one  of  the  last  which  the  progress  of 
disease  subdued. 

On  the  6th  of  February  1564,  Calvin  preached 
his  last  sermon.  From  that  day  he  was  unfit  for 
the  discharge  of  his  public  duties,  though,  while  he 
was  able  to  be  carried  to  church,  he  sometimes  added 
a  few  exhortations  to  those  of  the  preacher.  His  own 
account  of  the  "  crowd"  of  diseases  which  assailed 
him,  now  rendered  it  plain  that  nature  must  soon  sink 
under  the  pressure.  His  pain  was  sometimes  excruci- 
ating, and  his  slender  frame,  inclining  to  consumption, 
could  ill  withstand  such  shocks  as  he  endured ;  yet 
his  only  exclamation  was  :  "  How  long,  O  Lord?  how 
long?"  On  the  27th  of  March,  he  was  present  for 
the  last  time  in  the  Council.  On  the  2d  of  April  he 
was  carried  to  church.  He  thereafter  made  his  Will — 
a  singularly  instructive  document,  in  which  he  drops 
the  polemic  for  ever,  and  becomes  only  a  Christian, 
longing  to  die  at  peace  with  all.  It  is  the  act  of  the 
departing  believer,  embracing  for  the  last  time  those 
whom  he  will  not  embrace  again  till  they  meet  before 
the  throne,  to  follow  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he 
leadeth.     In  that  document,  Calvin  clings  with  a  fond 

*  His  last  work  was  his  Prelections  on  Ezekiel,  which  he  left 
unfinished.     See  the  Preface. 


56  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

tenacity  to  the  common  centre  of  the  spiritual  uni- 
verse— Christ — the  Saviour  of  the  lost — the  Reconciler 
of  the  guilty — God  with  us.  The  eulogy  pronounced 
by  Morus  upon  Calvin  there  receives  a  practical  illus- 
tration: Christum  Pectore  —  Christum  ore — 
Christum  opera  spirat. 

His  next  desire  was  to  meet  the  magistrates  of  the 
city  once  more  ere  he  departed — and  that  wish  was 
accorded.  They  assembled  at  his  house  to  hear  the 
counsels  of  the  dying  saint  and  sage;  the  interview  is 
the  finest  instance  of  the  influence  which  the  Church 
should  exert  on  the  State  which  is  to  be  found,  per- 
haps, in  the  whole  history  of  the  Church;  while 
Calvin's  words  are  all  that  even  he  could  have  spoken 
on  a  death-bed  —  ardent,  eloquent,  sublimely  holy, 
faithful.  This  peroration  of  his  public  life  was  in- 
tensely pathetic.  He  prayed — shook  hands  with  the 
rulers;  and  they  parted  in  tears,  never  to  meet  till 
they  assemble  again  before  the  Judge  of  all. 

On  the  28th  of  April,  the  Ministers  of  the  Canton 
were  assembled  to  receive  the  parting  counsel  of  their 
honoured  brother,  as  he  passed  on  before  them  to  his 
reward.  The  emaciated  frame  of  the  holy  man  was 
animated  for  a  little  with  renovated  vigour,  and  words 
were  spoken  which  touched  the  souls  of  all.  Bene- 
volence, humility,  holiness,  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit, 
were  there.  Farel  came  to  visit  him,  and  after  that 
venerable  minister  departed,  Calvin's  time  was  exclu- 
sively occupied  in  prayer.  His  agony  sometimes  ex- 
torted a  cry;  but  he  hushed  the  voice  of  nature  by 
the  words :   "  I  was  silent.  Lord,  for  thou  didst  it." 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  57 

Grace  was  now  triumphant — it  was  just  melting  into 
glory.  His  life  tells  how  a  Christian  should  live — 
his  death-hed  shows  how  a  Christian  may  die. 

On  the  19  th  of  ]\Iay,  Calvin  was  so  far  revived 
that  he  could  sup  with  his  brethren;  and  when  he 
left  them,  he  remarked  that  his  spirit  would  still 
linger  among  them.  From  that  day  he  lay  for  the 
most  part  in  a  state  of  stupor;  but  on  Saturday  the  27th 
of  May,  he  again  rallied  for  a  little,  and  was  dictating 
to  a  friend,  who  acted  as  his  secretary,  only  eight 
hours  before  his  death.  But  at  eight  o'clock  on  the 
evening  of  that  day — John  Calvin  died.  No  struggle 
accompanied  his  dissolution — not  a  doubt  was  ex- 
pressed— not  a  limb  was  moved — his  senses,  his 
judgment,  even  his  voice,  left  him  only  with  his 
breath,  and  Beza  found  him  "  tranquilly  dead."  He 
had  lived  somewhat  less  than  fifty-five  years;  but  into 
that  period,  the  work  of  centuries  was  compressed. 

The  tidings  were  received  with  general  lamentation. 
The  city  mourned  her  wisest  citizen ;  the  Church  la- 
mented her  ablest  pastor;  the  college,  its  founder; 
and  all,  their  friend.  Crowds  flocked  to  see  his  re- 
mains. Foreigners  who  came  to  visit  or  to  hear  him — 
among  others,  Queen  Elizabeth's  ambassador — mingled 
in  the  throng.  On  Sabbath  the  28  th,  the  corpse  was 
placed  in  the  coffin;  on  the  29th,  it  was  laid  in  the 
grave.  At  Calvin's  own  request,  no  pomp  followed 
him  to  the  tomb ;  and  no  stone  was  raised  to  tell  who 
lay  below.  The  place  of  his  sepulture  in  the  grave- 
yard of  Plein  Palais  is  unknown;  but  though,  like 
that  of  Moses,  all  unknown  to  mortal  eye,  the  body  is 


58  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

"  still  united  to  Christ" — the  corruptible  is  waiting 
for  its  clothing  of  incorruption. 

"   li^OV   VTVOV 

"We  offer  no  elaborate  character  of  Calvin  here. 
The  whole  space  in  which  we  have  hastily  glanced  at 
his  life  would  be  insufficient  to  describe  aright  even  his 
closing  days.  Do  we  regard  him  as  a  Commentator  ? 
— He  has  shed  the  light  of  deep  study,  and  deeper 
godliness,  over  nearly  every  book  of  Scripture  except 
the  Apocalypse.  The  word  of  God  was  to  him  as 
sacred  as  if  he  had  heard  Jehovah  speak  it.  In 
judiciousness,  his  expositions  are  unrivalled.  The 
intense  acuteness  of  his  mind,  and  his  wide  grasp  of 
thought,  enabled  him  to  seize  on  first  principles,  so 
that  his  system  is  pre-eminently  one  of  essential  truths. 
No  mind  can  penetrate  farther,  or  soar  higher  than 
his  did;  and  hence  his  favour  with  the  thinking — his 
offensiveness  to  the  superficial. 

Do  we  think  of  him  as  a  Christian  ? — Christ  was 
his  ALL.  Self  was  laid  in  the  dust.  It  was  the  very 
soul  of  his  religious  conviction  to  say  :  "  Man  must  be 
nothing,  that  God  in  Christ  may  be  everything."  His 
God  was  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit — the  only  living 
and  true  God.  Belief  in  that  God  as  reconciling 
sinners  to  himself  in  Christ  had  become  the  basis  and 
the  strength  of  Calvin's  character. 

Do  we  regard  him  as  a  Reformer  ? — He  is  second 
to  none  in  the  influence  which  he  exerted  in  the  glo- 
rious emancipation  which  took  place  in  the  sixteenth 


LIFE  OF  CALVIX.  59 

century.  The  planting  of  more  than  two  thousand 
Reformed  Churches  in  France  attests  his  ascendency 
and  power;  and  his  works  still  follow  him. 

Do  we  study  him  as  a  Friend  ? — Never  was  man 
more  intensely  loved  than  Calvin.  His  colleagues 
leant  on  him  with  an  idolatrous  affection.  He  pos- 
sessed the  secret  and  inexplicable  power  of  binding 
men  to  him  by  ties  which  nothing  but  sin  or  death 
could  sever.  They  treasured  up  every  word  that 
dropped  from  his  lips ;  and  were  this  the  place,  we 
might  explain  how  their  friendship  led  to  some  of  the 
most  singular  plans  for  collecting  his  sayings  which 
the  history  of  literature  supplies.*  The  harsh  and 
"  horrible "  doctrines  ignorantly  imputed  to  him  by 
men  who  know  his  religious  opinions  only  in  travesty 
and  caricature,  had  not  succeeded  in  chilling  what 
was  genial,  or  souring  what  was  nobly  generous  in  his 
nature. 

In  a  tall  and  somewhat  fantastic  mansion,  in  one 
of  the  streets  leading  from  the  Lake  to  the  Cathedral 
of  Geneva,  might  often  be  seen  assembled  a  group  of 
grave  and  reverend  men.  The  chamber  in  which  they 
met  was  small  and  meanly  furnished;  for  its  occupant 
was  so  poor  that  his  very  bed  was  not  his  own.  Its 
chief  ornaments  were  goodly  folios,  among  which 
those  of  Augustine  were  conspicuous.  In  that  group 
the  visitor  might  see  one  man  of  venerable  aspect, 

m 

with  silvery  hair  and  flowing  beard — resolute,  yet  mild 

—  fearless  against  an  enemy,  but  gentle  and  bland 

among  friends.     It  was  William  Farel  of  Neufchatel. 

*  See  Preface  to  Calvin's  Prelections  on  Hosea,  by  Crispinus. 


60  CALVIN  ANi)  SERVETUS. 

Beside  him,  and  almost  leaning  upon  his  bosom,  was 
another — child-like,  gentle,  and  timid  by  nature,  yet 
inured  by  the  spirit  of  the  times  and  by  frequent  perils, 
to  dare  and  achieve  great  things.  That  was  Peter  Viret 
of  Lausanne.  Beside  them  sat  one  whose  nobility  of 
mien  told  that  he  was  designed  for  great  events.  While 
his  keen,  penetrating  eye,  and  his  bearing  to  those 
around  him  bespoke  his  large  afiPections,  they  also  pro- 
claimed that  he  did  not  fear  the  face  of  man.  It  was 
the  Reformer  of  Scotland — Knox.  Less  prominent 
in  the  gr^up  were  some  younger  spirits — Theodore 
Beza,  and  one  or  two  Italian  refugees — rather  listen- 
ing to  the  discussion  than  mingling  in  it;  and  some- 
what toward  one  corner  of  the  apartment,  sat  two 
who  obviously  did  not  enter  with  their  whole  souls 
into  the  evening's  entertainment.  They  could  not 
sympathize  with  the  deep  and  thorough  reform  of  all 
Church  grievances  for  which  the  men  assembled  pled. 
They  could  not  understand  why  human  inventions 
and  "tolerable  fooleries"  should  not  be  tolerated; 
and  though  they  were  suffering  for  the  truth,  it  was 
truth  in  lawn-sleeves  and  scapularies,  or  at  least  truth 
in  a  surplice,  that  they  loved.  These  were  two  English 
exiles — Cox  perhaps,  and  a  colleague — honest  and  de- 
vout, yet  not  deep-seeing  men,  nor  thoroughly  abhor- 
rent of  the  "Popish  dregs."  But  the  genius  loci  was 
one  whom  no  fooleries  could  captivate.  His  sharp 
and  prominent  profile  spoke  of  penetrating  acuteness. 
His  clear  and  ever-glancing  eye  was  one  which  could 
still  the  tumult  of  the  people,  as  well  as  look  in  warm 
affection  on  the  friends  he  loved.     His  countenance, 


LIFE  OF  CALVIN.  61 

wasted  and  sicklied  over  with  the  paleness  of  thought 
and  suffering,  beamed  with  gentleness,  while  it  could 
also  express,  as  occasion  demanded,  the  deepest  emo- 
tions of  man's  soul.  It  was  Calvin  entertaining  his 
friends  in  his  study — regaling  their  souls  with  his 
wit  as  well  as  with  his  learning  —  the  man  [whom 
Europe  has  for  centuries  agreed  to  hate — whom  all 
who  knew  him  loved,  idolized,  and  clung  to  like  the 
ivy  to  the  wall,  or  the  vine  tree  to  the  elm. 

In  a  word,  Calvin  may  be  likened  to  Cato  as  a 
rigid  censor;  but  his  standard  for  censuring  was  that 
of  God,  while  his  errors  were  those  of  his  age.  The 
asperity  of  his  language  against  Servetus,  Castalio, 
Baldouin,  and  others,  may  be  explained,  but  cannot 
be  excused.  Truest  charity  will  lament  it ;  and  while 
we  bless  God  that  such  an  one  was  given  to  the 
Churches — his  conduct  towards  heretics  reminds  us 
that  it  is  man  we  are  admiring — the  treasure  was  in 
an  earthen  vessel ;  but  how  glorifying  to  God,  that  an 
earthen  vessel  should  have  achieved  so  much ! 

Finally,  do  we  regard  Calvin  as  a  sufferer  for  righ- 
teousness' sake  ? — He  encountered  what  the  Master 
whom  he  loved  predicted — tribulation;  it  was  some- 
times his  only  earthly  portion.  He  proved  that  he 
was  not  of  the  world,  else  "  the  world  would  have 
loved  its  own."  By  the  grace  of  God  that  was  in 
him,  be  surpassed  and  subdued  his  antagonists,  but 
in  doing  so,  he  earned  the  reward  which  the  world, 
in  every  age,  has  allotted  to  those  who  seek  to  rescue 
it  from  perdition  by  beckoning  it  with  faithful  ear- 
nestness to  the  Saviour  of  the  lost. 


C2  CALVIX  AND  SERVETUS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

LIFE  OF  SERVETUS.* 

About  the  middle  of  the  year  1553,  a  stranger  Ox 
unprepossessing  appearance  entered  Geneva,  then  ac- 
customed to  see  numerous  refugees  seeking  the  shelter  , 
of  its  walls.  To  say  that  he  fled  from  France,  be- 
cause certain  Popish  judges  had  condemned  him  to 
the  flames  for  heresy,  would  i;iot  be  to  describe  that 
stranger,  but  rather  to  confound  him  with  the  crowd  of 
outlaws  for  whom  innumerable  funeral  piles  were  then 
prepared  in  coimtries  devoted  tothefaith  of  Rome;  but 
to  say  that,  three  months  thereafter,  that  very  man, 
outside  thewalls  of  Geneva,  died  in  the  flames  to  which 
y\  the  same  crime  of  heresy  had  caused  him  to  be  con- 
1  demned  by  Protestant  magistratest — that  is  to  name 
Servetus.  His  funeral  pile  is  signalized  only  by  the 
fact  that,  where  it  was  reared,  it  appeared  alone, ;{: 
but  one  might  say,  that,  by  a  fatal  destiny,  Servetus 

■*  It  is  here  that  the  translation  from  Rilliet  begins. — Translator. 

'f  It  will  be  noticed  that  Rilliet  here  indicates,  at  the  very  outset, 
•who  it  was  that  condemned  Servetus — the  Protestant  magistrates 
of  Geneva. — Tr. 

:J:  Incidents  will  hereafter  be  mentioned  which  show  that  this  is 
not  literally  correct. — Tr. 


LIFE  OP  SERVETUS.  f)3 

could  not  otherwise  perish.  Bom  in  Spain,  the  native 
country  of  the  auto-da-fe^  he  fled  from  it  only  to 
see  his  effigy  consumed  in  a  foreign  land,  by  the  torch 
of  a  Popish  executioner,  and  at  last  to  die  in  flames 
kindled  by  Calvinistic  justice.* 

We  now  design  to  trace  the  details  of  this  last 
event,  confining  ourselves  strictly  to  an  exposition  of 
facts,  as  they  have  been  discovered  by  a  careful  ana- 
lysis of  the  authentic  and  original  papers  used  in  the 
proceedings,  as  well  as  by  the  attentive  study  of  the 
internal  condition  of  Geneva,  at  the  time  of  the  trial. 
This  double  source  of  information,  from  which  the 
different  writers  on  this  subject  have  not  sufficiently 
drawn,  has  enabled  us  to  reproduce,  with  greater 
fidelity  than  has  hitherto  been  done,  the  details  of 
the  criminal  prosecution  undertaken  against  Michael 
Servetus,  in  the  capital  of  the  French  Reformation.t 

A  few  words  will  suffice  to  convey  to  the  reader  all 
that  he  requires  to  know  of  the  life  of  Servetus. 

Michael  Serveto,  called  also  Reves  (such  is  the 
double  name  which  he  gives  himself  in  his  first  work), 
was  bom  about  the  year  1 509  at  Yillanova,  in  Arragon, 
in  the  diocese  of  Lerida.  His  father,  who  had  pro- 
bably destined  him  for  the  Church,  perceiving  that  he 
united  to  a  decided  taste  for  religious  speculations,  an 
avowed  hostility  to  scholastic  theology,  feared  that  his 

*  Suivez  Servet  partout  ou  il  va.  N'est-il  pas  singulier  qu'il  se 
rende  insupportable  en  tons  lieux,  et  qu'il  se  fasse  chasser  de  par- 
tout  ? — Biblioth.  Raisonee,  vol.  i.,  p.  376. — Tr.  ^ 

•f"  See  Appendix  A. 


64  CALYIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

son  would,  sooner  or  later,  be  found  in  the  grasp  of  the 
Inquisition,  owing  to  his  tendency  to  quarrel,  and 
therefore  sent  him,  in  the  year  1528,  to  study  law  at 
the  University  of  Toulouse.  Servetus  formed  a  con- 
nection in  that  city  with  some  youths  who  had  been 
attracted  by  the  Lutheran  innovations,  and  they  in- 
duced him  to  study  the  Gospel  along  with  them. 
Being  himself  promptly  animated  by  the  desire  to 
share  in  the  work  of  the  Reformation,  he  quitted 
Toulouse,  traversed  Italy,  where  he  saw  Charles  V. 
crowned  (February  1530) — then  took  the  road  for 
Germany,  to  confer  with  the  leaders  of  the  religious 
movement,  and  fixed  his  residence  at  Bale,  near  the 
Reformer  CEcolampadius. 

After  having  at  first  favourably  welcomed  Servetus, 
CEcolampadius  discovered  that  he  made  the  Reforma- 
tion consist  not  merely  in  rejecting  the  errors  imputed  to 
the  Romish  Church,  but  even  in  discarding  a  doctrine 
held  to  be  essentially  Christian  by  the  preachers  of  the 
new  faith — namely,  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  This 
discovery  immediately  detached  CEcolampadius  from 
Servetus,  and  he  experienced  the  same  cold  reception 
from  Bucer  and  Capito,  the  Reformers  of  Strasburg. 
The  isolation  in  which  he  was  thus  left  did  not  dis- 
courage him,  and  he  now  sought  adherents  by  becom- 
ing an  author.  In  1531,  he  published  at  Ilaguenau 
his  book  entitled  Z)e  Trinitatis  Erroribus,  jLibriYIl,,* 

*  We  have  seen  a  copy  of  this  work  in  the  Bibliotheca  Angelica 
at  Rome.  Its  title  is,  De  Trinitatis  JSrrorib2cs,  Lihri  Septem. 
Per  Michaelem  Serveto,  alias  Reves^  ab  Arragonia,  Hispanum. 
— Tr, 


LIFE  OF  SERVETUS.  65 

in  which  he  attacked  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  as  pro- 
fessed by  both  communions.  In  the  following  year 
he  published  another  work,  where  he  still  maintains 
his  views,  and,  moreover,  exhibits  his  peculiar  opinions 
upon  some  points  of  the  controversy  which  divided  the 
two  Churches,  between  which  he  pretends  to  occupy 
an  independent  position.  One  sees  the  theories  there 
appearing  which  he  afterwards  developed  at  length, 
and  which  affected  the  whole  of  Christianity.*  These 
writings  spread  by  degrees  in  Germany  and  Italy, 
where  they  were  not  without  partisans. t 

Servetus  encountered  only  more  determined  opposi- 
tion at  Strasburg  and  Bale  after  the  publication  of  his 
books ;  and  perceiving  that  his  attempt  was  unsuccess- 
ful, he  decided,  for  the  time,  to  change  both  his  profes- 
sion and  his  name.  It  was  accordingly  under  that  of 
Yilleneuve  that  he  went  to  France,  about  the  year  1 533, 
to  devote  himself  to  the  study  of  medicine.  At  Paris 
he  pursued  it  with  brilliant  success,  J  yet  without  losing 
sight  of  his  religious  speculations;  and  he  even  desired 

*  A  copy  of  this  work  is  also  in  the  Angelic  Library  at  Rome, 
and  it  is  thus  marked  in  the  catalogue :  Liher  iste  ipsa  raritate 
rarior.  It  is  a  neat  octavo  of  ^6  pages,  and  the  title  is  as  follows  : 
DialogoTum  de  Trinitate,  Libri  duo.  Be  Jmticia  Pugni  Christi, 
Capitula  quatuor.  Per  Michaelem  Serveto^  alias  Eeves,  ah  A  rra- 
(jonia  Sispanum,  Anno  mdxxxii. — Tr. 

t  Dr  M'Crie  thinks  that  the  heterodox  opinions  which  prevailed 
in  Italy  in  the  sixteenth  century,  were  introduced  by  these  writings 
of  Servetus.— ^^25^.  of  Reform,  in  Itahj^  pp.  150,  151.  See  Melanc- 
thon's  opinion,  ibid.  p.  152 :  "  L'on  pouyoit  peutetre  assurer  que 
les  desputes  anti-Trinitaires  out  arrete  le  progres  de  la  Refor- 
mation."— Bihlioth.  Angloise^  vol  ii.,*P'  89. — Tr. 

X  Sigmond,  in  a  work  entitled"  Unnoticed  Theories  of  Servetus," 
has  a  note  from  which  it  appears  that  the  heretic  gave  "  the  first 


G6  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

to  hold  a  conference  -with  Calvin  on  tlie  subject  of  re- 
ligion, though  circumstances  occurred  to  prevent  it. 
Urged  by  want,  Servetus  removed  to  Lyons  in  1535, 
where  he  became  a  corrector  of  the  press;  and  pub- 
lished, with  characteristic  notes,  a  good  edition  of 
the  Geography  of  Ptolemy.  Having  subsequently 
returned  to  Paris  in  1 537,  he  there  taught  geography, 
mathematics,  and  even  astrology,  with  success.  The 
last  branch  drcAv  down  upon  him  an  accusation  from 
the  Sorbonne,  and  a  sentence  of  the  parliament ;  upon 
which  he  again  quitted  Paris,  and  went  to  Charlieu, 
near  Lyons,  where  he  continued  for  two  years  to  prac- 
tise his  profession.  At  last  he  went,  in  the  year  1540, 
to  reside  at  Vienne,  in  Dauphine,  where  his  protector, 
the  Archbishop  Pierre  Paumier,  had  his  residence. 
In  that  town,  he  was  again  employed  in  his  profes- 
sion as  a  physician,  and  also  upon  some  literary 
works  for  the  booksellers  of  Lyons,  who  published 
a  second  edition  of  his  Ptolemy,  and  a  Latin  Bible 
for  which  he  had  written  the  preface  and  notes. 

Indeed,  far  from  renouncing  theology,  Servetus 
made  all  his  studies  bear  upon  it,  and  time  had  con- 
firmed his  mind  in  the  determination  to  urge  on  a 
restoration  of  Christianity  more  complete  than  that  at 
which  the  Reformers  had  paused.  As  he  had  already 
sounded  QEcolampadius,  he  next  tried  to  ascertain  the 
mind  of  Calvin,  before  attempting  to  realize  his  ob- 
ject ;  and  by  the  mediation  of  a  third  party,  he  put  the 
Reformer  in  possession  either  of  a  new  work  which 

account  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood  above  seventy  years  before 
the  immortal  Harvey  published  his  discovery." — Tr. 


LIFE  OF  SERVETUS.  67 

Servetus  proposed  to  publish,  or  of  some  theological 
<juestions  on  which  he  solicited  Calvin's  judgment.  A 
correspondence  took  place  between  them,  in  which 
the  former  showed  himself  little  disposed  to  abandon 
certain  opinions  which  Calvin  combated,  and  em- 
ployed language  toward  the  Reformer  which  deeply 
wounded  him.  He  withdrew  from  all  connection 
with  the  Spaniard  in  the  month  of  February  154G, 
whom  he  held  to  be  incorrigible;  and  at  the  same 
time  Calvin  thus  wrote  to  Viret :  "  Servetus  has  lately 
written  to  me,  and  has  added  to  his  letters  an  enor- 
mous volume  of  reveries,  informing  me,  with  in- 
credible arrogance,  that  I  shall  there  see  things 
astonishing  and  unheard  of.  He  offers  to  come 
hither,  if  I  please;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  pledge  my 
word;  for  if  he  come,  I  shall  not  suffer  him  to  depart 
alive,  as  far  as  my  influence  can  avail."* 

At  the  close  of  their  controversy,  Servetus,  repelled 
by  Calvin,  addressed  himself,  without  greater  success, 
first  to  Abel  Popin,  a  pastor  at  Geneva,  and  next  to  the 
Reformer,  Peter  Viret,  then  established  at  Lausanne. 
Perceiving  that  he  was  of  new  reduced  to  the  necessity 
of  relying  only  on  himself,  Servetus  was  not  discou- 
raged, but  resuming  his  labours  on  the  work  which  he 
had  sent  to  Calvin  and  Yiret,  he  prepared  it  for  pub- 
lication. With  him  it  was  a  matter  of  conscience  to 
manifest  to  the  world  the  only  true  principles  of  the 

*  Upon  this  letter,  of  which  the  genuineness  was  long  disputed, 
see  Henri/,  Das  Lebeu  J.  Calvins,  1835,  Erster  Band,  Einleitung 
S.  xxi.  (Alex.  Morus  reasons  strenuously  against  its  genuineness.) 
— Tr. 


68  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

Christian  faith,  and  to  fight  the  good  fight  against  all 
assailants.  One  perceives,  in  reading  his  work,  that 
he  believed  himself  to  be  accomplishing  a  holy  mission 
— almost  a  task  imposed  on  him  from  Heaven.* 

In  the  month  of  April  1552,  he  solicited  a  book- 
seller of  Bale  to  undertake  an  impression  of  his 
work,  and  met  with  a  refusal.  He  then  determined  to 
have  it  clandestinely  printed  at  Vienne,  and  a  printer 
of  that  town  consented  to  construct  a  secret  work- 
shop for  that  purpose.  The  book  appeared  about  the 
commencement  of  the  year  1553.  It  was  entitled 
Christianismi    Restitutio^  |   and~  embraces    all    the 

*  Such  are  the  opinions  of  Rilliet,  The  constancy  of  Servetus  at 
the  stake  proves  how  profoundly  he  was  convinced  that  he  was 
attempting  what  our  author  here  describes. — Tr. 

•f  The  name  of  Servetus  does  not  appear  on  the  title-page  of  the 
work,  but  it  is  indicated  at  p.  199;  at  the  end  of  the  book,  his 
initials  are  found,  M.S.  V.  1553 — Michael  Serveto  Villanovanus. 
Three  copies  of  the  original  edition  are  said  to  exist.  That  of  the 
King's  Library  at  Paris,  which  Rilliet  consulted,  bears  the  name  of 
Colladon — the  same  person  probably  who  will  be  named  in  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  the  trial.  There  was  published,  in  1790,  a  reprint 
of  the  Christianismi  Restitutio,  in  which  the  first  edition  is  repro- 
duced page  for  page  to  the  number  of  734.  (The  full  title  of  the  work 
is  as  follows  :  "  Restitutio  Christianismi — hoc  est,  totius  ecclesiae 
apostolicse  ad  sua  limina  vocatio,  in  integinam  restituta  cognitione 
Dei,  fidei,  Christianse  Justificatiouis,  nostrae  regenerationis,  baptismi, 
et  coenae  Domini  manducationis ;  restituto  denique  nobis  regno  ccelesti 
Babylonis  impiae  captivitate  soluto,  et  Anti-Christo  cum  suis  penitus 
destructo."  A  copy  of  this  work  was  bequeathed  by  a  Dr  Sims  to 
George  Sigmond,  M.D.,  author  of  a  work  already  referred  to  re- 
garding Servetus,  and  the  following  note  is  prefixed  to  that  copy  : 
"  The  fate  of  this  work  has  been  not  a  little  singular.  All  the  copies 
except  one  were  burned  along  with  their  author,  by  the  implacable 
Calvin.     This  copy  was  secreted  and  saved  by  D.  Colladon,  one 


LIFE  OF  SERVETUS.  69 

ideas,  theoretical  and  practical,  by  which  Servetus 
proposed  to  displace  the  monstrous  errors  of  the  Ro- 
naish  Church,  and  the  pretended  reforms  of  the  Pro- 
testant doctors,  both  being  equally  opposed,  according 
to  him,  to  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel  and  to  primitive 
Christianity.  This  work  was  less  the  exposition  of 
a  definite  heresy,  than  a  complete  plan  of  reform ;  and 
if  it  had  been  able  to  force  itself  into  publicity,  the 
effect  would,  perhaps,  have  been  great,  and  the  name 
of  Servetus  might  not  have  awakened,  as  now,  only 
the  idea  of  anti-Trinitarian.* 

The  book  had  scarcely  issued  from  the  press,  and 
was  not  exposed  for  sale,  when  a  copy  found  its  way 

of  the  judges.  After  passing  through  the  library  of  the  Landgrave  of 
Hesse  Cassel,  it  came  into  the  hands  of  Dr  Mead,  who  endeavoured 
to  give  a  quarto  edition  of  it;  but  before  it  was  nearly  completed 

it  was  seized, on  the  27th  of  May  1723,  at  the  instance  of 

Dr  Gibson,  Bishop  of  London,  and  burned — a  very  few  copies  ex- 
cepted. The  late  Duke  de  Yalliere  gave  near  400  guineas  for  this 
copy;  and  at  his  sale  it  brought  3810  livres.  It  contains  the  first 
account  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  seventy  years  before  the 
immortal  Harvey  published  his  discovery."  Upon  the  information 
conveyed  in  this  note,  Dr  Sigmond  saj-s :  "  In  justice  to  the  memory 
of  my  late  valued  friend,  I  must  state  my  conviction  that  this  copy 
is  not  the  original  one."  The  contents  of  the  present  note  make  it 
plain  that  Sigmond's  conviction  was  correct.  See  *'  Unnoticed 
Theories  of  Servetus,"  pp.  22,  23. — Tr. 

*  If  Sigmond's  opinion  regarding  the  scientific  or  professional 
theories  of  Servetus  be  correct,  Rilliet's  conjecture  in  the  text  is 
not  without  foundation ;  indeed,  the  contradictions  apparent  in  the 
books  of  the  heretic  are  not  their  least  remarkable  feature.  In  a 
sentence  quoted  by  Sigmond,  the  following  words  occur :  "  .  .  .  . 
modum  generationis  Christi  doceus,  quod  ipse  non  sit  creatura,  nee 
finitae  potentiae,  sed  vere  adorandus,  verusque  Deus."  Yet  the 
Socinians  claim  him  as  their  proto-martyr. — Tr. 


70  CALVIN  AND  SERVEtUS. 

to  Geneva.  Had  Calvin  any  knowledge  of  it  ?*  "We 
know  not  that  he  had.  What  is  certain  is,  that  on 
the  26th  of  February  1553,  a  French  refugee,  named 
William  de  Trie,  residing  at  Geneva,  and  a  friend  of 
the  Reformer,  denounced  the  work  of  Servetus  to  a 
relation  who  lived  at  Lyons,  sent  him  the  first  sheet,  re- 
proaching him,  at  the  same  time,  for  the  want  of  zeal 
among  the  Catholics  in  repressing  such  blasphemies, 
and  pointed  out  as  the  author  the  physician  practising 
at  Vienne,  under  the  name  of  Yilleneuve.  The  Lyonese 
transmitted  the  information  of  De  Trie  to  the  In- 
quisitor of  the  diocese ;  and  Servetus  was  exposed, 
along  with  his  papers,  to  a  rigorous  examination. 
They  could  extort  nothing  from  him,  nor  discover 
aught  that  could  prove  that  he  was  the  author  of  the 
denounced  volume.  The  Lyonese  then  applied  again 
to  De  Trie  for  more  ample  information;  who  replied 
by  sending  some  letters  written  by  Servetus  himself 
to  Calvin,  in  one  of  which  the  Spaniard  explained  his 
change  of  name.  De  Trie  declared  that  he  had,  in 
some  measure,  extorted  these  letters  from  the  Refor- 
mer ;  but  that  he  had  done  so  in  order  not  to  appear 
to  have  lodged  a  false  accusation  against  Servetus.  The 
latter  always  regarded  Calvin  as  the  true  accuser. 
He,  on  his  part,  formally  repelled  that  imputation. t 

*  Rilliet  answers  his  own  question  at  a  future  stage  of  his  in- 
quiry, where  he  makes  it  apparent  that  it  was  through  the  channels 
opened  up  by  trade,  or  from  business  connections,  that  the  book  was 
so  speedily  sent  to  Geneva. — Tr. 

+  Declaration^  p.  1337.  "  II  n'est  ia  besoin,  d'insister  plus 
longuement  a  rembarrer  une  calomnie  si  frivole,  laquelle  tombe 
has  quand  i'auray  dit  en  un  mot  qu'il  n'en  est  rien." 


LIFE  OF  SERVETUS.  71 

"Upon  receiving  these  additional  proofs,  the  In- 
quisitor requested  the  arrest  of  Servetus;  and  it  was 
effected  on  the  4th  of  April.  On  the  5th  and  6th, 
the  accused  underwent  a  treble  examination  be- 
fore a  tribunal  composed  of  ecclesiastics  and  laymen, 
where  he  gave  replies  utterly  contrary  to  the  truth, 
and  was  at  last  convicted  by  means  of  his  own  hand- 
writing, which  he  could  not  deny.  The  judges  were 
disposed  to  proceed  with  rigour  against  him,  when  he 
found  means  to  escape  from  the  prisons  of  the  Palace 
of  Yienne,  on  the  7th  of  April,  owing,  no  doubt,  to  his 
numerous  friends.  The  trial  was,  nevertheless,  con- 
tinued against  him  as  an  outlaw;  and  on  the  17th  of 
June,  a  sentence,  condemning  him  to  the  flames,  was 
returned  by  the  ordinary  tribunal  of  the  Bailiwick  of 
Vienne.  On  the  same  day  his  effigy,  and  a  bale  of 
copies  of  his  book,  were  burned  in^the  market-place, 
by  the  hands  of  the  executioner. 

During  that  time,  Servetus  lay  concealed  in  the 
French  territory,  where  he  remained  about  three 
months  after  his  escape ;  but  fearing,  if  he  prolonged 
his  stay  in  France,  that  he  might  fall  into  the  hands 
of  justice,  he  resolved  to  flee  from  a  hostile  country, 
and  taking  (strangely)  the  highway  that  led  to  the 
city  where  Calvin  dwelt,  he  reached  Geneva  towards 
the  end  of  the  month  of  July.* 

*  Rilliet  here  defers  his  explanation  of  the  motives  which  guided 
Servetus  in  this,  till  he  should  publish  his  life  of  the  heretic. — Tr. 


72  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 


CHAPTER  III. 

SERVETUS  AT  GENEVA — THE  STATE  OF  PARTIES  THERE. 

When  Servetus  entered  Geneva,  eighteen  years  had 
rolled  away  from  the  day  on  which  the  Reformation 
had  been  solemnly  inaugurated  there,  and  twelve 
since  Calvin,  recalled  from  his  brief  exile,  had  begun 
to  preside  over  its  Church,  its  morals,  and  its  faith. 

Political  interests  had  exerted  much  influence  in 
that  revolution,  which,  overthrowing  the  Popish  be- 
liefs and  the  Episcopal  sovereignty  at  Geneva,  had 
replaced  them  by  the  Reformation  and  by  liberty. 
The  pursuit  of  the  latter  engrossed  the  citizens  long 
before  they  had  heard  of  the  new  doctrines;  and, 
when  these  were  preached,  they  w^ere  hailed  chiefly 
as  a  means  of  definitively  freeing  Geneva  from  the 
supremacy  of  its  bishops,  and  of  securing  for  it  the 
protection  of  Berne.  Without  doubt  there  existed, 
in  the  depths  of  many  minds,  religious  wants  which 
had  sought,  in  the  teaching  of  the  new  preachers,  a 
nourishment  which  they  looked  for  in  vain  from  the 
degenerate  institutions  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  But 
it  was  very  soon  discovered  that  the  love  of  independ- 
ence, yet  more  than  enlightened  convictions  and  seri- 


SERVETUS  AT  GENEVA.  73 

ous  belief,  had  been  the  moving  power  of  the  majority 
of  the  Genevese,  become,  by  character  and  political 
convenience,  the  zealous  partisans  of  a  religious  eman- 
cipation.  In  destroying  by  the  roots  their  spiritual 
relation  to  their  ancient  ecclesiastical  superior,  their 
anti- Catholic  beliefs  formed  an  invincible  obstacle  to 
the  return  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  bishop;*  and 
it  was  this  guarantee  of  independence  which  mainlv 
endeared  the  Reformation  to  their  hearts.  For  them, 
it  w^as  the  means — Geneva  was  the  end;  at  heart, 
they  were  devoted  to  their  country  more  than  to  the 
Gospel. 

Habituated,  besides,  to  a  life  of  licentiousness,  of 
dissipation,  and  pleasure,  to  which  Catholic  Geneva 
gave  free  scope,  the  emancipated  citizens  did  not  pre- 
tend to  renounce  these  memorials  of  the  past,  and 
alter  their  manners  when  they  changed  their  consti- 
tution. According  to  them,  the  same  religion  which 
had  assisted  in  consolidating  their  political  emancipa- 
tion, should  partake  of  the  privileges  of  freedom. 
They  wished  rehgion  w^ell  reformed;  but  they  did  not 
desire  its  restraints.  As  soon  as  it  assumed  this  latter 
character — when  it  came  down,  all  saturated  with 
rigorism  and  severe  exactions,  into  the  region  of 
practice — when  it  imposed,  without  any  respect  of 
persons,  the  strict  observation  of  unforeseen  and  diffi- 
cult duties,  men  saw  the  illusions  vanish  which,  per- 
haps, owed  their  origin  to  the  fact  that  the  faith  of 

*  Prior  to  the  Reformation,  the  Bishop  of  Geneva  "was  its  Lord 
Paramount,  invested  with  much  of  the  authority  and  power  of  a 
temporal  prince. — Tr. 


74 


\ 


CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 


/ 


M' 


J^' 


the  new  converts  was  not  a  matter  of  experience.  The 
exile'  of  Calvin  was  the  result  of  that  difference  be- 
tween the  principles  which  he  wished  to  render  preva- 
lent, and  the  independence  which  a  goodly  number  of 
the  Genevese  did  not  design  to  forego.  Recalled 
under  more  favourable  circumstances,  he  very  soon 
experienced  again  the  same  opposition,  which  had 
been  calmed  for  a  little,  but  which  was  too  natural  to 
man  long  to  disappear.  Calvin  seems  to  allude  to  this 
when  he  says,  at  a  subsequent  period:  "  Many,  to 
whom  the  first  look  of  pure  and  sound  doctrine  was 
welcome,  were,  in  com-se  of  time,  offended  when  they 
met  it.  Few  were  found  to  bend  the  neck  to  carry 
with  pleasure  the  yoke  of  Jesus  Christ."* 

This  yoke,  such  as  the  Reformer  had  fashioned  it, 
when  he  made  a  rigid  discipline  the  condition  of  his 
return  to  Geneva,  found,  in  fact,  in  the  majority  of 
the  citizens,  a  stiff-necked  people.  From  that  there 
arose  a  struggle  between  them  and  Calvin,  of  which 
the  varied  incidents  rendered  more  and  more  clear 
the  utter  dissonance  of  disposition  that  separated  the 
French  Reformer  from  the  Genevese  patriots.  The 
character  of  the  master,  all  stamped  mth  an  austerity 
that  was  almost  Stoical,  and  with  an  inflexible  devo- 
tion to  the  very  first  principles  (the  logic)  of  duty, 
formed  an  irreconcilable  contrast  with  the  gay  man- 
ners, the  easy  life,  the  worldliness  of  his  disciples. 
He  clothed  everything  in  dark  colours — they  took 
existence  by  its  joyous  side.  They  were  undisciplined 
and  foolish  children  called  to  be  the  docile  pupils  of 

*  Declaration,  p.  1326. 


SERVETUS  AT  GENEVA.  75 

a  rigid  mentor.  Between  them  sympathy  was  not 
natural,  and  it  was  not  produced. 

In  addition  to  the  difference  of  character,  there  was 
that  of  position.  The  Reformation  had  appeared  as 
an  accident  amid  the  poHtical  struggles  long  main- 
tained by  the  Genevese,  and  the  majority  had  receiv- 
ed it  as  a  weapon  in  the  combat ;  but  it  inspired  them 
with  no  ardent  and  profound  convictions.  For  Cal- 
vin, again,  the  Reformation  was  the  object  of  his 
choice,  the  design  of  his  labours,  and  the  terminating 
point  of  his  endeavours — it  was  his  life.  The  inte- 
rests of  religion  in  his  soul  culminated  high  above 
every  other;  his  faith  occasioned  all  his  patriotism, 
since  for  it  he  had  preferred  a  land  of  exile  to  his 
home.  A  stranger  to  the  struggles  carried  on  by  the 
children  of  Geneva  for  the  conquest  of  their  liberty, 
he  did  not  come  to  enjoy  along  with  them  the  victory, 
but  to  profit  by  it.  He  felt  bound,  at  all  costs,  to 
render  them  faithful  subjects  of  Jesus  Christ  —  to 
make  their  city  the  sanctuary  of  the  Gospel — their 
manners  the  tji^e  of  the  Reformation.* 

Calvin  undertook  this  work,  or  rather  this  war. 
What  the  founders  of  religious  orders  had  attempted 
for  monks  cloistered  in  monasteries,  Calvin  was  bold 
enough  to  attempt  for  a  corrupt  and  a  free  city;  he 
imposed  a  rule  upon  the  inhabitants  of  Geneva,  and 
he  caused  it  to  be  observed.  He  counted  in  the  Go- 
vernment many  members  favourable  to  his  views,  and 
depended,  besides,  upon  those  among  the  people  who 

*  These  sentences  contain  the  rationale  of  Calvin's  conduct,  and 
explain  to  a  Christian  why  he  has  been  so  signally  maligned. — Tr. 


® 


CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 


had  devoutly  received  his  doctrine,  as  well  as  upon 
the  strangers,  daily  increasing  m  number,  who  fled  to 
Geneva  on  account  of  their  religion.  He  found  sub- 
missive subjects  among  them,  and  an  useful  instrument 
in  the  Consistory — charged  to  watch  over  the  life  and 
the  faith  of  the  flock. 

\^  But  the  disciplinarian  institutions  by  which  he 
endeavoured  to  reform  men's  morals  and  bridle  their 
licentiousness — the  ecclesiastical  laws  designed  to  re- 
gulate, even  in  the  smallest  details,  the  creed  and  the 
conduct  of  the  citizens,  quite  naturally  provoked  a  keen 
opposition,  and  a  prolonged  resistance  from  many. 
Calvin  finished  by  reigning,  but  it  was  by  right  of 
conquest.  At  the  close  of  the  struggle,  Geneva  con- 
tained a  greater  number  of  Calvinists,  and  some  fewer 
Genevese.  It  is  true  that  in  losing  them  she  received 
in  exchange  what,  in  modern  times,  has  constituted 
her  only  renown  and  glory.  But  this  new  delivery 
of  Geneva  was  laborious  and  uncertain.  For  many 
years  the  anti-Calvinist  party,  who  reckoned  in  their 
ranks  the  members  of  many  influential  families  and 
a  considerable  portion  of  the  population,  saw  his  suc- 
cesses increasing;  and  it  was  precisely  at  the  moment 
when  the  position  of  the  Reformer  was  most  critical, 
because  he  saw  the  favour  which  he  had  long  enjoyed 
with  the  body  politic  from  day  to  day  decreasing,  that 
Servetus  entered  the  walls  of  Geneva.  The  year 
1553,  says  Beza,*  was,  by  the  impatient  fury  of  the 
factious,  full  of  such  heavy  troubles,  that  not  merely 
the  Church,  but  also  the  Republic,  was  very  near  its 
*   Vie  de  Calvin,  under  ttis  year. 


SERVETUS  AT  GENEVA.  77 

ruin — all  having  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  unprin- 
cipled men,  one  might  have  believed  that  they  were 
about  to  accomplish  their  long  concerted  projects. *3 
At  the  head  of  the  Republic,  and  of  "  the  unprin- 
cipled," there  was  at  that  time  one  who  had  become 
as  decided  an  adversary  to  Calvin  as  he  had  formerly 
been  a  friend.  This  was  Amied  Perrin,  Chief  Syndic, 
and  Captain-general.  As  a  zealous  partisan  of  reform, 
he  had  showed  himself  one  of  the  most  ardent  pro- 
moters of  Calvin's  recall  in  1541  ;  and  during  some 
years  thereafter  they  had  moved  forward  in  harmony. 
The  brilliant  position  in  the  Republic,  which  fortune, 
alliances,  popularity,  and  talent  secured  to  Perrin, 
appeared  to  himself  to  demand  the  support  of  Calvin 
as  its  compliment  and  guarantee.  He  saw  in  the 
Reformer,  if  not  an  instrument,  at  least  an  ally,  whom 
he  could  not  neglect  with  impunity.  But  this  alliance 
could  not  be  of  long  duration  ;  for  an  equal  desire  to 
rule  animated  both,  and  could  not  fail  to  divide 
them.t  The  friend  of  pageantry  and  pleasure,  and 
seized  with  the  ambition  to  rule  the  Republic  alone, 
Perrin  designed  to  retain  his  loose  behaviour,  while 
he  hoped  to  find  in  the  friendship  of  the  Reformer  a 
pledge  of  success  and  of  impunity.     Like  others,  he 

*  We  have  already  noticed  that  iu  all  the  past  estimates  of  the 
affair  of  Sevvetus,  this  has  been  overlooked,  or  not  sufficiently  con- 
sidered. One  chief  merit  of  Rilliet's  brochure  is,  that  he  gives  it 
the  prominence  that  is  due  to  it. — Tr. 

f  We  would  not  for  an  instant  compare  Calvin  and  Perrin,  in 
reference  to  that  lust  of  power  mentioned  in  the  text.  The  Re- 
former's passion  was  for  purity  in  men  ;  Perrin's,  that  he  might 
have  tools  and  minions.  Even  the  remarks  of  Rilliet  point  out  this 
distinction.  — Tr. 


3 


CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 


favoured  the  rigour  of  Calvin,  because  he  believed 
himself  personally  sheltered  from  it. 

But  the  Reformer  had  no  taste  for  such  finesse ; 
in  his  eyes  everything  must  give  way  rather  than 
principle;  and  when  the  occasion  was  presented,  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  add  the  Chief  Syndic  to  the  other 
y  r  enemies  whom  his  rigorism  and  his  inflexibility  had 
1  already  procured  him.  The  father-in-law  and  the 
wife  of  Perrin,  being  guilty  of  a  delinquency  for- 
bidden by  the  new  ecclesiastical  canons,  were,  at  the 
instance  of  Calvin,  condemned  by  the  Consistory,  and 
punished  by  the  Council  (1546).  "That  condem- 
nation," said  the  Reformer  himself,  "  had  the  effect 
of  making  it  publicly  known,  on  the  one  hand,  that 
there  was  now  no  longer  any  hope  of  escaping  from 
correction,  since  even  the  first  in  the  city  were  not 
spared :  and,  on  the  other,  that  I  have  no  other  treat- 
ment for  my  friends  than  for  my  enemies."  By  this 
notable  stroke,  Calvin  at  once  demonstrated  his  power 
and  measured  his  forces — the  interest  and  the  future 
success  of  his  work  were  of  much  more  importance 
to  him  than  the  favour  of  Perrin.  Wounded  in  his 
self-esteem  and  in  his  afi'ections,  the  rage  of  the 
magistrate  was  extreme;  and  from  that  day  there 
followed  between  the  Reformer  and  him,  amid  some 
precarious  adjustments,  a  war  of  extermination,  where 
Calvin  was  conqueror  only  in  consequence  of  the  final 
expulsion  of  Perrin  and  the  chiefs  of  his  party.  By 
a  singular  freak  of  fortune,  those  who  had  expelled 
the  priests  were,  for  the  most  part,  banished  by  the 
ministers. 


SERVETUS  AT  GENEVA. 


79 


But  at  the  period  which  now  occupies  our  attention 
the  Chief  Syndic  triumphed.  As  the  leader  of  the  anti- 
Calvinist  opposition  in  the  Councils,  and  at  the  head 
of  numerous  and  active  dependants,  he  profited  by  his 
political  influence  to  thwart  his  rival.  In  addition, 
the  Government  was  recruited  that  very  year  by  some 
of  the  principal  opponents  of  the  Reformer,  who  had 
entered  the  Little  Council  after  a  reaction,  where  the 
Calvinist  party,  still  not  very  numerous  among  the 
citizens,  had  received  one  of  its  severest  checks.*  A 
party  of  the  Reformer's  adherents,  who  sat  in  the 
Little  Council,  had  been  excluded  by  the  Council  of 
Two  hundred  and  the  Council-general. t 

*  Rilliet  here  gives  a  note  from  the  Croniques  of  Roset,  which 
seems  to  contradict  his  own  statements.— Tr. 

"f  As  we  have  frequent  occasion  to  refer  to  the  courts,  civil  and 
municipal,  which  existed  at  Geneva  in  Calvin's  day,  the  following 
account  may  explain  their  constitution  and  operation.  The  sovereign 
power  was  vested  in  a  series  of  three  Councils  -.—Eif'st,  The  General 
Council,  composed  of  all  such  citizens  and  burgesses  as  had  reached 
the  age  of  twenty-five  years.  Secondly/,  The  Council  of  Two  hundred, 
which  consisted  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  citizens  or  burgesses,  and 
had  its  vacancies  filled  up  as  soon  as  they  amounted  to  fifty.  The 
members  were  required  to  be  thirty  years  complete,  amd  held  oflBce 
for  life,  unless  they  became  bankrupt,  or  were  degraded  at  a  censure 
annually  passed.  This  Council  generally  met  on  the  first  Monday  of 
every  month.  T/iiV(i^_y,  The  Council  of  Twenty-five.  Its  members 
were  chosen  from  the  Council  of  Two-hundred,  and  were  subject  to 
the  same  scrutiny  as  the  larger  court.  The  syndics  or  magistrates 
were  selected  annually  from  the  Council  of  Twenty-five,  and  were 
first  chosen  in  the  city  about  the  year  1 090.  They  continued  in 
oflBce  for  a  year,  and  were  not  re-eligible  for  four.  For  a  sketch  of 
these  courts,  and  their  several  functions,  see  KeaWs  Account  of 
Geneva^  p.  66,  ei  seq. ;  Sennebier,  Hist.  Liter,  de  Geneve^  vol.  i.,  p. 
84,  e«  sej.— Tr. 


so  CALVIN  AND  SERVETtJS. 

The  majority  of  the  citizens  had  thus  openly  taken 
part  against  the  Reformer,  all  the  more  that  the 
newly  elected  councillors  *  were  either  kinsmen  of  the 
Captain-general,  or  of  a  family  with  which  Calvin  and 
the  Consistory  were  then  engaged  in  a  personal  quarrel, 
regarding  a  prohibition  against  one  of  its  members,  to 
present  the  children  for  baptism.  To  choose  magis- 
trates from  these  families  was  to  declare  against  Cal- 
vin without  disguise,  and  to  blazon  an  opposition 
which  had  been  hitherto  secretlv  active.  He  felt  it 
deeply,  and  his  letters  make  us  believe  that  his  soul 
was  filled  with  bitterness. 

To  this  party  blow  there  had  speedily  succeeded  a 
decision  more  hostile  still  to  the  interests  of  Calvin's 
cause  and  of  his  friends.     The  greater  part  of  these, 
we  have  said,  were  found  in  the  ranks  of  the  stranger 
population,  refugees  at  Geneva  for  the  sake  of  religion, 
and  who,  on  that  account,  were  the  more  ardent  in 
maintaining  the  Calvinist  discipline  in  all  its  rigour 
— the  reverse  of  the  native  Genevese,  w  ho,  we  repeat, 
being  Protestants,  for  the  most  part,  only  because  they 
had  ceased^ to  be  Catholics,  saw  in  Reform,  not  so 
much  a  change  of  private  morals  as  of  ecclesiastical 
abuses — and,  in  consequence,  resisted  the  discipline 
by  which  Calvin  sought  to  regulate  or  bridle  their 
spirits.     The  Genevese  party  had  triumphed  over  the 
citizens  attached  to  the   Reformer,   in  the  election 
which  took  place  in  the  Council-general.     It  wished 
to  weaken  still  more  the  French  party,  upon  which 

*  They  were  Pernet  Desfosses,  Gaspard  Favre,  Claude  Vandel, 
aud  Baptist  Sept. 


6ERVETUS  AT  GENEVA.  8l 

Calvin  depended,  and  which,  being  composed  6f 
strangers,*  did  not  enjoy  poUtical  rights  in  Geneva. 
These  aUens,  however,  had  received  arms  during  the 
previous  year,  to  aid  in  maintaining  the  public  safety ; 
and  that  act  testified  the  confidence  and  esteem  with 
which  they  had  inspired  the  magistrates.  It  was  to 
testify  the  very  contrary,  and  thus  to  lower  their  in- 
fluence and  that  of  Calvin,  that  it  was  now  decided 
to  withdraw  their  arms — in  fact,  to  disarm  them. 

The  proceedings  adopted  towards  them  in  these 
circumstances,  deeply  wounded  the  Reformer,  who 
felt  himself  attacked  in  their  persons.  "  It  is  useless," 
he  subsequently  exclaimed,  "  to  describe  the  inhuma- 
nity, the  barbarity,  and  the  brutality,  with  which  the 
enemies  of  the  Gospel  have  treated  the  exiles  of 
Christ,  whom  they  had  received  as  co-religionists.  The 
calmness,  the  moderation,  and  the  patience,  which  the 
latter  have  displayed  amid  all  these  indignities,  will 
be  attested  even  by  the  authors  of  the  injuries."  The 
last  mark  of  hostility  to  the  Calvinist  party  was  pro- 
hibiting the  ministers  from  continuing  to  sit,  like  the 
other  citizens,  in  the  Council-general,  and  their  assi- 
milation, in  that  respect,  to  the  priests  before  the 
Reformation.  Though  insignificant  in  its  political 
consequences,  this  measure,  adopted  at  tbe  com- 
mencement of  the  year,  betrayed  still  further  the 
animosity  and  distrust  of  which  the  chiefs  of  the 
Church  were  the  objects. 

If  to  these  symptoms,  in  some  measure  oflScial,  we 

*  They  comprehend   under  the  name  of  French  all   kinds   of 
strangers. — Bonnivard. 


82  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

add  the  complaints  of  every  kind,  of  which  Calvin 
and  his  colleagues  were  the  frequent  occasion,  and 
which  the  registers  of  the  Council  attest,  we  shall 
understand  that  his  influence  in  Geneva  was  not  at 
this  period  well  consolidated,  nor  his  power  so  un- 
challenged as  some  imagine.  To  be  convinced  of 
this,  it  is  enough  to  hear  himself:  "  For  four  years" — 
he  wrote  at  the  close  of  the  year  1553 — "  the  fac- 
tious have  done  all  to  lead,  by  degrees,  to  the  over- 
throw of  this  Church,  already  very  weak.  From  the 
beginning  I  understood  their  machinations.  But  God 
has  wished  to  punish  —  not  being  able  to  correct 
us.  Behold,  two  years  of  our  life  have  passed,  as 
if  we  lived  among  the  avowed  enemies  of  the  Gos- 
pel." 

Among  the  incidents  most  likely,  sooner  or  later, 
to  occasion  a  violent  collision  between  the  Reformer 
and  the  party  opposed  to  him,  we  find  in  the  very 
front  the  interdict  from  partaking  of  the  Lord's  supper 
pronounced  against  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
Libertine  party — Philibert  Berthelier.  This  sentence, 
passed  by  the  Consistory  at  the  instigation  of  Calvin, 
was  one  of  the  strongest  incentives  to  the  opposition 
against  him;  and  must  necessarily  become  the  occa- 
sion of  a  struggle  between  him  and  his  opponents. 
In  effect,  the  adversaries  of  the  Reformer  not  merely 
wished  the  civil  power  to  cancel  the  sentence  of  ex- 
communication pronounced  against  Berthelier,  but, 
moreover,  desired  to  profit  by  the  circumstance — to 
withdraw  from  the  Consistory,  and  transfer  to  the 
Little  Council,  the  right  of  refusing  the  holy  supper 


SERVETUS  AT  GENEVA. 


83 


to  the  citizens.*  The  composition  of  the  latter  body, 
and  the  Syndicate  of  Amied  Perrin,  rendered  the 
occurrence  favourable  to  their  views.  But  such  de- 
signs roused  the  indignation  of  Calvin,  who  saw  in 
their  realization  the  severest  check  that  could  be  given 
to  his  disciplinarian  institutions,  without  which  he 
did  not  believe  that  he  could  maintain  the  Reforma- 
tion in  Geneva.  Yet  such  was  the  power  of  his 
antagonists,  that,  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts,  their 
plans  were  crowned  with  success  before  the  close  of 
the  year,  t 

*  These  ecclesiastical  discussions  occurring  durinor  the 
trial  now  to  be  described,  will  hereafter  occupy  our 
attention.  We  have  spoken  of  them  now,  because 
Calvin  himself  has  told  us,  that  among  the  allies  of 
Berthelier,  Servetus  found  his  chief  patrons  and  sup- 


*  This  sentence  is  a  key  to  explain  many  of  the  struggles  in 
which  Calvin  was  engaged.  Rilliet,  arguing  upon  the  principles 
which  regulate  worldly  minds  and  worldly  politicians,  refers  to 
Calvin's  "  rigour,"  and  "austerity,"  and  "  Stoicism."  The  Chris- 
tian will  see  deeper  into  the  matter,  and  at  once  detect  that  Calvin's 
controversy  is  that  which  began  between  Cain  and  Abel,  which  has 
been  carried  on  through  all  this  world's  history,  which  the  Redeemer 
himself  had  to  engage  in,  and  from  which  all  who  would  follow  the 
Lord  fully  must  learn  not  to  shrink — the  controversy  between  holi- 
ness and  sin — between  Christ  and  Caesar — between  God  and  the 
hearts  that  are  "  enmity  against  him."  Had  Calvin  just  favoured 
Perrin  in  what  Rilliet  calls  his  "  love  of  pageantry  and  pleasure," 
the  Reformer  would  have  met  with  no  opposition. — Tr. 

"1"  It  will  be  seen  that  Rilliet  here  traces  Calvin's  opposition  only 
to  his  desire  to  maintain  discipline  and  the  Reformation.  It  does  not 
appear  that  he  understood  Calvin's  principle  —  for  which  he  was 
willing  to  contend  to  the  death — that  the  civil  cannot  sinlessly 
trench  upon  the  spiritual. — Tr. 


v/ 


84  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

porters,*  while  it  was  necessary  to  describe  the  posi- 
tion which  Perrin  and  his  adherents,  mentioned  under 
the  name  of  Liber tmes,  held  in  Geneva,  because  their 
hostility  to  the  Reformer,  enabling  Servetus  to  meet 
such  powerful  allies  at  the  side  of  his  redoubtable 
opponent,  probably  drew  him  to  Geneva,  and  turned 
his  trial  into  an  episode  in  the  struggle  which  dis- 
tracted the  republican  city. 

*  Epist.  Calv.  ad  Min.  Tigur.,  26  Novemb.  1553. 


THE  ARRESTMENT.  85 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  ARREST  OF  SERVETUS — FIRST  JUDICIAL 
PROCEEDINGS  AGAINST  HIM. 

On  arriving  at  Geneva,  Servetus  alighted  at  the  inn 
of  the  Rose,  and  there,  according  to  his  own  declara- 
tion, kept  himself  carefully  concealed,  that  he  might 
not  be  recognised,  waiting  an  opportunity  to  procure 
a  boat  to  proceed  by  the  lake  to  Zurich,  and  thence 
to  the  kingdom  of  Naples.*  But  notwithstanding  of 
this  assertion,  it  is  probable  that  in  the  inn  where  he 
preserved  his  incognito,  he  was  not  without  some 
communication  with  those  in  the  city.  Certain  it  is, 
that  in  spite  of  the  precautions  which  he  had  taken, 
or  rather  because  he  did  not  remain  so  completely 
secluded  as  he  pretends,  his  presence  in  Geneva  was 
discovered,  the  alarm  was  given,  and  himself  identi- 
fied. If  we  may  believe  a  cotemporary  narrative,!  he 
had  taken  a  fancy  to  be  present  at  a  sermon  preached 
in  one  of  the  churches,  and  it  was  there  he  was  dis- 
covered, and  denounced  even  before  the  sermon  was 

*  Examination  of  August  23,  No.  28. 

f  Historia  de  Morte  Serveti,  in  Mosheim,  p.  448. 


86  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

concluded.  It  is  certain  that  they  were  members  of 
the  ministerial  body  who  established  his  identity,  and 
that  his  arrest  took  place  on  the  Lord's- day,  13th  of 
August,  1553.* 

*  The  following  extracts,  translated  from  the  Registers  of  the 
Company  of  Pastors  in  Geneva,  concerning  Servetus,  indicate  their 
part  at  this  stage  of  the  proceedings  ; — 

"  The  13th  of  August,  year  aforesaid. — M.  Servetus  having  been 
recognised  by  some  brethren,  it  was  found  good  to  cause  him  to  be 
imprisoned,  to  the  end  he  might  not  further  infect  the  world  (or 
people)  with  his  blasphemies  and  heresies;  for  that  he  is  known 
(to  be)  wholly  incorrigible  and  desperate.  Upon  that,  there  was 
one  who'was  made  criminal  party  (accuser)  against  him;  the  which 
proposed  certain  articles,  containing  a  selection  of  the  most  notable 
errors  of  said  Servetus.  Some  days  after,  it  was  commanded  by 
the  Council  that  we  should  be  present  when  they  examined  him ;  the 
which  being  done,  his  impudence  and  obstinacy  were  more  and  more 
discovered  and  known;  because  he  maintained,  for  a  principle, 
that  the  name  of  Trinity  had  not  been  in  use  but  since  the  Council 
of  Nice,  and  that  all  the  doctors  and  martyrs  before  had  not  known 
what  it  was.  But  when,  one  produced  quite  evident  testimonies,  as 
well  from  Justin  Martyr  as  from  Irenseus,  Tertullian,  Origen,  and 
others,  so  far  was  he  from  being  ashamed,  that  he  broke  out  into 
all  absurdities,  with  injuries  and  outrages.  At  last,  my  Lords  see- 
ing that  the  procedure  would  be  endless  if  means  were  not  found  to 
shorten  it,  commanded  that  an  extract  should  be  made  of  the  erro- 
neous and  heretical  propositions  contained  in  his  books,  and  that 
he  having  replied  by  writing,  we  should  show  in  brief  the  falsity  of 
his  opinions,  with  the  purpose  of  sending  the  whole  to  the  neigh- 
bouring Churches  to  have  their  advice."  (Then  follow  the  parts  of 
the  discussion  written  in  Latin,  which  are  printed  in  Calvin's  Trac- 
tatiis  Theologici.) 

"  All  the  deportment  of  the  said  Servetus,  as  it  is  written  above, 
has  been  sent  by  my  Lords  to  the  Churches  of  Berne,  Basle,  Zurich, 
and  Chafouse,  for  having  their  advice  thereupon. 

"  Friday,  the  27th  day  of  October. — My  Lords  having  received 
the  advice  of  the  Churches  of  Berne,  Basle,  Zurich,  and  Chafouse, 
touching  the  conduct  of  Servetus,  condemned  the  said  Servetus  to 


THE  ARRESTMENT.  87 

(^  Calvin  was  the  instigator.  The  instant  he  was 
informed  by  his  colleagues  of  the  discovery  which 
they  had  made,  in  consequence,  no  doubt,  of  in- 
structions formerly  received,  he  applied  to  one  of  the 
Syndics  to  obtain  from  him  the  imprisonment  of  Ser- 
vetus,  in  virtue  of  the  power  attached  to  his  office  by 
the  Criminal  Edicts.*  The  magistrate  immediately 
granted  the  request,  and  Calvin  never  dissembled  the 
part  which  he  took  in  the  imprisonment  of  the  heretic. 
"  I  do  not  wish  to  deny,"  he  said,  "  that  it  was  on 
my  suit  that  he  was  made  prisoner."t  This  move  of 
the  Reformer  was  perfectly  natural,  after  he  had  been 
informed  of  the  presence  of  Servetus  in  his  domain. 
Under  pain  of  abdication,  he  must  do  everything 
rather  than  suffisr  by  his  side  in  Geneva  a  man  whom 
he  considered  the  greatest  enemy  of  the  Reformation ; 
and  the  critical  position  in  which  he  saw  it,  in  the 
bosom  of  the  Republic,  was  one  motive  more  to  re- 
move, if  it  was  possible,  the  new  element  of  dissolu- 
tion which  the  free  sojourn  of  Servetus  would  have 
created. 

In  Calvin's  situation,  and  •  as  he  was  placed,  he 
could  not  hesitate  upon  the  part  w^hich  he  ought  to 
take.     No  doubt,  in  undertaking  a  new  affair,  he 

be  led  to  Champey,  and  there  to  be  burned  alive;  which  was  done 
without  the  said  Servetus  at  his  death  having  given  any  indication 
of  repentance  for  his  errors." 

*  "  When  any  complaint  shall  come,  let  each  one  of  the  Syndic* 
have  power  to  call  those  to  whom  it  appertains,  and  cause  imprison, 
if  it  is  meet." — Criminal  Edicts  of  January  28,  1543.  As  to 
Calvin's  part,  see  Epist.  Calv.  ad  Suherum,  September  9,  1553. 

+  Declaration^  p.  1318. 


J 


88  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

complicated  the  difficulties  of  his  position,  but  that 
could  not  repress  his  inflexible  spirit.  Born  for  rule 
and  for  contest,  he  must  always  incur  the  risk  of  the 
latter  for  the  sake  of  the  former.*  A  check  in  the 
pursuit  of  Servetus  was  not  to  him,  after  all,  more 
fatal  than  that  which  he  would  have  received  had  he 
not  dared  to  employ  against  the  Spaniard  the  repres- 
sive means  which  he  had  before  adopted  to  accom- 
plish his  objects  with  adversaries  less  formidable,  or 
heretics  less  odious. 

Calvin,  we  know  from  his  letter  to  Yiret,  had  long 
held  Servetus  to  be  an  impious  and  pernicious  blas- 
phemer, whose  opinions  distilled  the  most  deadly 
poison  into  the  bosom  of  Christendom.  This  convic- 
tion, deepened  by  the  irritation  which  the  attacks  of 
the  heretic  had  occasioned,  could  not  leave  him  an 
instant  undecided  as  to  the  part  which  he  should 
take.  To  tolerate  Servetus  with  impunity  at  Geneva, 
would  have  been,  in  some  measure,  for  Calvin  to 
exile  himself;  it  would  have  been  to  betray  the  cause 
of  God  without  a  struggle — to  belie  all  the  past,  and 
render  impossible  the  continuation  of  his  work  in 
Geneva,  the  rival  of  Rome.  The  path  on  which 
Calvin  had  entered  left  him,  therefore,  no  alternative 
between  toleration  and  persecution.     The  man  whom 

*  Rilliet  here  again  makes  it  all  too  plain  that  he  either  did  not 
know,  or  did  not  sufficiently  estimate,  the  power  of  religious  prin- 
ciple in  Calvin's  mind.  Beyond  all  question,  his  ruling  motive 
was  neither  the  lust  of  power  nor  the  love  of  strife;  it  was  religious 
belief — right  or  wrong  in  its  application,  but  deriving  its  power  to 
impel,  from  the  conviction  that  it  was  belief  in  what  Jehovah  had 
said  or  commanded. — Tr. 


THE  ARRESTMENT.  89 

a  Calvinist  accusation  had  caused  to  be  arrested,  tried, 
and  condemned  to  the  flames  in  France,  could  not  find  |^ 
an  asylum  in  the  city  from  which  that  accusation  had 
issued.  The  honour  of  Reform,  as  Calvin  understood 
it,  was  pledged  to  that,  and  never,  without  doubt,  did 
he  believe  he  was  performing  a  work  more  in  unison 
with  the  interests  of  a  cause  which  he  held  so  sacred, 
than  when  he  determined  to  urge  on  the  arrest  of  Ser- 
vetus.  The  doctrines  published  by  the  latter  appeared 
to  the  Reformer  a  complete  overturning  of  the  Chris- 
tian structure,  nay,  even  of  all  religion.*  To  tolerate 
their  author,  and  not  to  punish  him,  had  been  to 
render  himself  partaker,  in  public  opinion,  of  his 
horrible  impiety.  Besides,  without  taking  into  ac- 
count what  the  enemies  of  the  Calvinist  faith  might 
have  thought,  all  deference  towards  Servetus  on  the 
part  of  Calvin,  as  we  have  already  said,  would  have 
been  a  leniency  not  suggested  by  the  system  which 
he  had  up  to  that  time  pursued,  with  regard  to  theo- 
logical opponents  placed  at  his  door. 

In  fact,  not  content  with  seeking  to  confute  Ser- 
vetus in  discussion,  Calvin  solicited  against  him  the 
interposition  of  the  civil  power — the  magistratie  being 
bound,  according  to  him,  to  take  cognizance  of  bias-  >/ 
phemies  and  heresies  as  well  as  of  murders  and  rob- 
beries, since  crimes  in  matters  of  religion  were  not 
less  important  than  in  matters  civil,  nay,  implied  a 
culpability  even  greater  than  the  latter,  inasmuch  asi 
the  soul,  the  object  of  their  attack,  is  of  more  im- 
portance than  the  body  and  physical  life.  "  Such 
*  Declaration^  p.  1388. 


v^ 


90  CALTIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

/  a  diversity  is  not  found  in  Scripture,"  says  lie  some- 
V  where,  "  that  one  should  estimate  at  a  lower  rate  the 
injuries  done  to  God  than  those  which  affect  men."* 
N|  Calvin  did  not  comprehend,  as  men  do  now,  the  rela- 
'  tion  between  the  Church  and  the  State;  for,  although 
he  assigned  to  each  a  sphere  of  action  perfectly  dis- 
tinct from  that  of  the  other,  he,  nevertheless,  in  the 
aggregate  of  social  organization,  admitted  only  of  their 
mutual  co-operation  and  their  intimate  union.f  His 
whole  system  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  is  based  on 
this  double  connection  of  divergence  and  of  unity: 
in  reference  to  heresy,  we  find  the  same  opinion. 
The  servant  of  the  Church  must  denounce  the  heretic, 
and  confute  him  theologically;  but  his  condemnation 
is  the  exclusive  function  of  the  magistrate,  one  of 
whose  most  sacred  duties  is  to  pimish  attacks  made 
on  the  Divine  Majesty. 

"  It  is  most  true,"  says  Beza,  "  that  when  men  were 
banded  together  against  the  doctrine  of  God  which 
Calvin  preached,  he  neglected  nothing  till  he  had 
caused  the  mockers  of  God  to  be  treated  as  their 
demerits  required,  according  to  the  holy  laws  which 
are  here  in  force."     "But,"  adds  the  biographer,  "he 

*  Declaration,  p.  1321. 

^  Rilliet  here  refers  to  the  ecclesiastical  Ordonnances  of  the  city 
of  Geneva  issued  in  1561.  But  Calvin's  own  conduct  might  have 
shovred  him  that  the  sweeping  assertion  in  the  text  is  not  in  accord- 
ance with  fact.  Calvin  did  struggle,  and  oflFered  to  die,  rather  than 
let  the  civil  interfere  with  the  spiritual.  The  opinion  of  his  age 
reared  him  in  the  conviction,  and  kept  him  under  the  belief,  that  it 
was  not  a  spiritual,  but  a  civil  thing,  to  repress  heresy  by  the  sword. 
— Tr. 


THE  ARRESTMENT. 


91 


never  judged  any  one,  for  that  was  not  his  office,  and 
he  never  thought  of  doing  it;  and  if  his  advice  was 
asked,  that  was  not  to  confound  the  offices  which 
God  had  distinguished,  but  to  be  regulated  according 
to  the  Word  of  the  Lord."* 

The  authority  of  that  Word  was  not  associated  in 
the  mind  of  the  Reformer  with  the  theory  of  free 
inquiry,  as  it  has  been  since  proclaimed.  In  ques- 
tions of  faith,  he  did  not  at  all  admit  of  selection  or 
independence,  but  tolerated  only  the  reign  of  absolute 
truth,  and,  by  consequence,  unity  of  doctrine.  Liber- 
ty, according  to  Calvin,  was  emancipation  from  error 
and  submission  to  the  truth,  not  promiscuousness  of 
opinion,  t 

"  I  reject,"  said  he,  in  arguing  against  the  parti- 
sans of  toleration,  "  their  favourite  maxim,  that  we 
must  suffer  all  kinds  of  disputes,  because  there  is 
nothing  certain  or  definite,  but  the  Scripture  is  a 
nasus  cerae^  so  that  the  faith  which  all  Christians 
hold  concerning  the  Trinity,  predestination,  justifica- 
tion by  free  grace,  are  things  indifferent,  regarding 
which  men  may  contend  at  pleasure.";}:    Then,  return- 

*  Discours  sur  la  Vie  et  Mort  cfe  Mr  Johkn  Calvin. 

+  Rilliet  means  to  say,^bat  Calvin's  view  of  Christian  liberty 
was  not  such  as  to  lead  him  to  regard  all  religious  opinions  as 
equally  sound,  if  sincerely  held.  He  rejected  that  opinion  as  subver- 
sive of  truth,  and  thus  expressed  himself  on  the  subject :  "Cum 
enim  furta,  coedes,  rapinae  severissime  plectantur,  quia  ad  homines 
injuria  pertineat,  connivetur  interea  ad  scortatioues,  adulteria,  ebri- 
ositates,  blasphemias  nominis  Dei  tanquam  ad  res  licitas,  aut  non  ita 
graviter  vindicandas.  Atqui  Deus  longe  aliter  iis  de  rebus  pro- 
nuntiat." — Calvin  to  Sommerset.     See  his  Collected  Letters. — Tr. 

J  Letter  of  February  20, 15.55,  in  Henri/,  IL,  Beil.,  No.  2.    (We 


^ 


.'*»' 


02  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

ing  elsewhere  to  the  same  subject:  "What  will 
become  of  God  and  of  Jesus  Christ,"  said  he,  "  if  the 
doctrine  is  so  uncertain  and  dubious?  And  what 
opprobrium  is  offered  to  God  by  saying  that  he  has 
made  his  language  in  Scripture  so  tortuous  that  it  is 
calculated  only  to  mock  men,  and  befool  them?  But, 
if  we  have  not  a  certain  and  definite  religfion  in  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  it  will  follow  from  that,  that  God 
has  wished  us  to  be  occupied  with  one  knows  not 
how  many  fallacies,  as  if  he  spoke  to  us  of  fooleries. 
What  remains  for  such  people  but  to  annihilate  the 
Holy  Scripture,  that  they  may  have  a  shorter  way 
to  imagine  all  that  enters  their  head  ?  At  all  events, 
one  clearly  perceives  that  all  mockers  of  God,  and  all 
the  rebelUous  against  him,  in  denying  that  princes 
and  magistrates  should  maintain  the  true  religion  by 
the  sword,  are  pleading  their  own  particular  cause."* 

apprehend  that  in  these  few  sentences  the  essence  of  the  question 
regarding  toleration,  as  viewed  by  the  Reformers,  will  be  found. 
They  were  afraid,  amid  the  conflict  of  opinion  which  then  prevailed, 
to  let  go,  or  seem  to  let  go,  the  one  unchallengeable  standard — the 
Word  of  God.  They  held  that  it  spoke  with  no  uncertain  sound 
upon  the  great  doctrines  which  embody  the  mind  of  God  regarding 
the  souls  of  men,  and  could  be  parties  to  no  transaction,  or  could 
abet  no  tenets  which  proceeded  on  the  supposition  that  God's  Word 
was  not  definite  in  its  meaning,  as  well  as  authoritatively  binding 
upon  all  that  held  it.  The  error,  or  rather  the  excess  of  Calvin's 
system,  lay  in  admitting  man's  coercive  power  into  the  sphere  where 
He  alone  presides  who  said  :  "Vengeance  is  mine;  I  will  repay." 
— Te.) 

*  Declaration,  p.  1321.  (In  these  sentences  Calvin  has  said  nearly 
all  that  even  he  could  say  for  his  cause ;  and  it  is  needless  to  add  ex- 
tracts from  other  parts  of  his  works,  though  they  exist  in  abundance. 
He  was  right  in  pleading  for  the  certainty  and  the  definite  conviction 


THE  ARRESTMENT.  93" 

Calvin  believed  that  he  was  pleading  the  cause  of 
God  and  of  the  Gospel  (which  he  confounded  with 
his  own),  and,  by  consequence,  fulfilling  an  impera- 
tive duty,  in  delivering  Servetus  to  the  secular  arm ; 
but  he  had  neglected  to  beware  of  "  confounding  the 
offices  which  God  has  distinguished,"  when  he  mixed 
himself  up  with  the  heretic's  condemnation.  "  From 
the  time  he  was  convicted  of  his  heresies,"  said  Calvin, 
"  I  have  made  no  endeavour  to  have  his  punishment 
made  capital;  and  not  merely  all  honest  men  will  be 
witnesses  of  what  I  say,  but  I  challenge  all  the 
maUgnants  to  say  if  it  is  not  so."  *  In  urging  on 
the  arrestment  of  Servetus,  Calvin  was  satisfied  with 
hoping  that  the  sentence  would  be  capital;  but  he 
afterwards  desired  to  mitigate  the  horrors  of  his 
punishment,  t 

The  hope  of  Calvin  was  not  disappointed,  although 
its  realization  was  not  so  prompt  as  he  had  perhaps 
desired.  It  must  even  have  appeared  to  him  doubt- 
ful oftener  than  once  during  the  two  months  which 

of  their  truth  which  the  Scriptures  briug  to  the  soul  of  a  believer.  (1 
John  V.  19.)  That  was  one  of  the  points  which  the  Reformers  were 
called  on  to  maintain  at  once  against  practical  unbelievers  among 
Protestants  and  the  "doubtsome  faith"  of  Rome;  and  in  maintain- 
ing it  they  had  Scripture  for  their  full  and  unequivocal  warrant. 
See  John  vii.  17,  compared  with  Ps.  xxv.  14;  Rom.  viii.  16,  38. 
But  the  Reformers  erred  by  excess,  when,  from  defending  the  self- 
evidencing  power  of  Scripture,  they  claimed  for  man  the  right,  or 
laid  on  him  the  obligation,  to  punish  those  who  did  not  thus  see 
light  in  God's  light.— Tr.) 

*  Declaration^  p.  1318. 

+  Epist.  Calv.  ad  Farellum,  20  August,  1553 :  "  Spero  capitale 
saltern  judicium  fore;  pcense  vero  atrocitatem  remitti  cupio." 


94  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

rolled  away  before  pronouncing  and  executing  the 
sentence  of  death.  Indeed,  even  to  the  last  moment, 
some  might  continue  uncertain  as  to  the  closing 
scene  of  the  tragedy,  because  the  state  of  parties  in 
Geneva  transformed  the  affair  of  Servetus,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  into  a  new  episode  in  the  struggle  in 
which  Calvin  w'as  engaged.  Defeated  upon  other 
points,  he  would  probably  have  received  a  similar 
check  upon  this,  if  his  opinion  had  not  been  sup- 
ported by  foreign  authorities,  and  if  the  Council  of 
Geneva,  which  would  have  resisted  the  Reformer, 
had  not  yielded  to  the  Churches  of  Switzerland  and 
the  Government  of  Berne. 

In  the  meantime,  Servetus  had  crossed  the  thres- 
hold of  the  ancient  residence  of  the  bishops  of  Geneva, 
transformed,  after  their  expulsion,  into  an  abode  for 
prisoners;  and  in  ordering  his  temporary  arrestment, 
the  Lord  Syndic  had  only  performed  his  duty.  But 
that  the  prisoner  might  not  be  immediately  released 
for  want  of  charges  against  him,  the  judge  was  bound 
to  institute  a  criminal  accusation ;  and,  with  that 
design,  to  observe  the  formalities  required  by  the 
Edicts.  These  appointed  that,  in  every  accusation  im- 
plying corporeal  punishment,  the  accuser  must  be- 
come a  prisoner  along  with  the  accused,  in  order  that, 
in  the  event  of  the  charge  proving  false,  the  former 
might  undergo  the  punishment  to  which  the  guilty 
was  exposed.*     Calvin  could  not  shut  himself  up  in 

*  "  Let  the  Lieutenant  have  power  of  imprisoning,  at  the  re- 
quest of  every  one  who  will  make  himself  a  formal  party  against 
another,  by  becoming  a  prisoner  along  with  him." — Edict  of  12th 


THE  ARRESTMENT.  95 

a  jail  with  Servetus,  but  intrusted  it  to  the  care  of 
another  to  become  his  accuser ;  and  this  he  never 
conceals.  On  the  contrary,  he  says :  "  I  do  not  dis- 
semble that  it  was  by  ray  advice  that  he  was  appre- 
hended in  this  city,  to  render  an  account  of  his  evil 
deeds.  Let  the  malevolent  or  the  slanderous  babble 
against  me  as  much  as  they  please,  it  is  as  I  frankly 
declare — as,  according  to  the  laws  and  customs  of 
the  city,  no  one  could  be  imprisoned  for  a  crime  with- 
out a  party  to  accuse,  or  without  information  pre- 
viously lodged,  to  bring  such  a  man  to  reason,  I  took 
measures  to  obtain  a  party  to  accuse  him."  * 

The  person  employed  to  become  in  this  manner  a 
"  criminal  party,"  against  the  Spaniard,  was  a  disciple 
of  the  Reformer,  a  Frenchman,  named  Nicolas  de  la 
Fontaine,  and  employed,  it  would  appear,  as  Calvin's 
private  secretary.  It  should  be  remarked,  that  in  this 
trial,  with  which  the  name  of  Geneva  is  now  for  ever 
connected,  the  accused  as  well  as  the  accusers  were 
foreigners. 

When  Servetus  was  imprisoned  by  order  of  the 
Syndic,  the  Lord- Lieutenant,  Pierre  Tissot,  was  in- 
formed, according  to  the  Edicts.f     On  the  same  day, 

N<yv.  154"2.  "  Item. — That  in  a  case  demanding  corporeal  punish- 
ment, if  a  party  pursue,  the  said  party  pursuing  must  become  a  pri- 
soner himself,  and  subject  himself  ad  pcenam  tallionis,  &c.,  accord- 
ing to  the  text  of  our  Franchises." — Ordonnancts  of  1529,  No.  8. 
(We  have,  in  the  fact  that  the  Reformers  gave  obedience  to  this  law 
another  proof  of  their  clear  conviction  that  heresy  deserved  death. — 
Tk.) 

*  Declaration^  p.  1337. 

+  '*  If  they  take  a  criminal,  let  them,  within  tweLty-four  hours. 


96  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

it  behoved  him,  in  Hke  manner,  to  receive  the  declara-^ 
tion  by  which  Nicolas  de  la  Fontaine  became  the 
accuser,  and,  in  consequence,  to  issue  a  warrant  for 
his  imprisonment.  De  la  Fontaine  applied  next 
day,  Monday  the  14tli  of  August,  to  the  Little 
Council,  to  ask  justice  against  Servetus — as  "  a  sower 
of  great  heresies."*  He  was  enjoined  to  give  in,  "  in 
writing,  to  the  Lord-Lieutenant,  the  errors  and  pas- 
sages which  he  says  bear  against  him,  so  that  Servetus 
may  reply,  to  be  further  pursued."  In  conformity  with 
this  decision  of  the  Council,  and  with  the  duties  of  his 
oj0&ce,  which  obliged  him  to  examine  every  prisoner 
within  the  first  twenty-four  hours,t  Pierre  Tissot  went 
after  noon  to  the  bishops'  palace,  where  the  two 
prisoners  were,  and  then,  following  step  by  step 
the  articles  of  the  complaint  by  De  la  Fontaine, 
remitted  to  him  by  order  of  the  Little  Council,  and 
consisting  of  thirty-eight  articles,  drawn  up  by  Calvin,:}: 

issue  an  order  to  the  Lieutenant,  to  make  him  answer  upon  the 
points  on  which  he  has  been  accused." — Edicts  of2Wc  Jan.,  1543. 

*  "  Upon  the  application  of  Nicolas  de  la  Fontaine  against  the  said 
Servetus,  prisoner,  bearing  that  he  is  a  sower  of  great  heresies,  and 
for  these  already  imprisoned,  and  a  fugitive  ;  and  inasmuch  as  he, 
having  become  party  against  him,  has  supplicated  justice — it  is 
resolved  that  they  give  in  writing  to  the  Lord- Lieutenant  the  errors 
and  passages  which  they  profess  to  prove  against  him,  to  the  end 
that  he  may  reply,  to  be  further  pursued. — Extract  from  tlie  Regis- 
ters of  the  Little  Council,  dated  lithAug.  1553. 

-j-  "  When  the  Syndics  have  informed  the  Lieutenant  that  they 
have  taken  one  accused,  let  him  be  examined  within  twenty- four 
hours.''— Edicts  of  l'2th  Nov.  1542. 

X  It  is  Calvin  himself  who  informs  us  that  he  prepared  them. — 
Declaration,  p.  1337.  In  his  letter  to  Farel,  20th  August  1553, 
Calvin  says,  that  the  deed  of  accusation  consisted  of  foiiy  articles ; 


THE  EXAMINATION.  97 

he  questioned  the  accused  upon  the  diflferent  points 
mentioned  in  the  deed  in  succession.*  De  la  Fon- 
taine (or  rather  Calvin)  requested  that  Servetus  might 
be  first  examined  upon  some  facts  relative  to  his 
previous  life,  and  his  publications,  and  we  shall  give, 
as  a  specimen  of  the  procedure,  the  opening  of  the 
examination,  as  it  is  found  in  the  minutes  of  the 
Court.  This  preliminary  inquest,  held  by  the  Lieu- 
tenant, corresponds  to  that  with  which  the  "  Judges 
of  Instruction"  are  now  charged: — 

"  The  year  1553,  and  on  Monday,  the  14th  day  of 
the  month  of  August,  pursuant  to  the  criminal  action 
raised  at  the  instance  of  the  Hon.  Nicolas  de  la 
Fontaine,  of  St  Gervais  au  Vixen,  a  Frenchman,  an 
inhabitant  of  this  city,  against  M.  Servetus  of  Yille- 
neuve,  in  the  kingdom  of  Arragon,  in  Spain — The  said 
De  la  Fontaine  requests  that  the  said  Servetus  should 
reply  to  the  questions  written  below,  declaring  that  he 
has  raised  the  said  criminal  action,  in  his  own  proper 
and  private  name ; — the  which  Servetus  has  sworn  to 
speak  and  answer  the  truth,  upon  pain,"  &c. 

"  1 .  In  the  first  place,  that  about  twenty- four  years 
ago,  he  began  to  trouble  the  Churches  of  Germany 
by  his  errors  and  heresies,  and  had  been  condemned 
and  forced  to  flee,  to  escape  the  punishment  that  was 
prepared  for  him. 

in  fact,  the  paragraphs  of  the  original  schedule  had  been  at  first  so 
numbered,  but  as  two  of  them  contained  only  directions  for  pro- 
cedure, and  not  grounds  of  charge,  they  have  been  latterly  with- 
dra-wTi;  and  upon  the  authentic  document,  the  double  notation  is 
found. 

*  See  the  Complaint  at  length,  in  Appendix,  B. 

G 


98  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

"  Replies — It  is  true  that  he  has  written  a  little 
book,  but  has  not  troubled  the  Churches,  as  far  as  he 
knows,  and  has  never  been  condemned  for  it. 

"  2.  Item — That  at  that  time,  or  about  it,  he 
printed  an  execrable  book,  which  has  infected  many 
people. 

"  Replies — Has  composed  [[another]]  little  book, 
but  does  not  know  that  it  has  infected  any  person. 

"  3.  Item — That  since  then  he  has  not  ceased,  by 
all  means  in  his  power,  to  disseminate  his  poison,  both 
by  quotations  which  he  has  made  concerning  the 
Bible,  and  in  some  annotations  which  he  has  written 
upon  Ptolemy. 

"  Replies — That  he  confesses  to  have  made  anno- 
tations upon  Ptolemy  and  the  Bible,  but  thinks  he 
has  done  nothing  but  good  by  them. 

"  4.  Item — That  since  that  time  he  has  privately 
printed  another  book,  containing  infinite  blasphemies. 

"  Replies — That  he  has  written  another  book,  in 
which  he  does  not  think  that  he  has  blasphemed :  but 
that  if  his  accuser  show  him  his  blasphemies,  he  is 
ready  to  correct  them. 

"  5.  Item — That  being  kept  prisoner  in  the  city  of 
Vienne,  when  he  saw  that  he  would  not  receive  grace 
to  recant,  he  found  means  to  escape  from  prison. 

"  Replies — That  it  is  true  be  was  a  prisoner  at 
Vienne  at  the  instance  of  M.  Calvin  and  William 
Trie;  but  that  he  made  his  escape,  because  the  priests 
desired  to  burn  him — while  the  prison  was  kept  as  if 
they  had  wished  him  to  save  himself." 

In  this  last  answer  we  see  Servetus  retorting  by  an 


THE  EXAMINATION.  99 

indirect  attack  upon  Calvin,  to  whom  and  "William 
de  Trie  he  imputes  (with  truth  as  regards  the  latter) 
his  imprisonment  at  Yienne.  He  wishes  by  this  simple 
trait  to  lessen  the  consideration  of  his  opponent,  and 
he  seizes,  at  the  commencement,  the  opportunity  of 
beginning  the  battle  by  making  himself  in  some  mea- 
sure the  accuser  of  Calvin.  These  offensive  tactics  of 
Servetus,  to  which  we  shall  see  him  again  recurring, 
prove  that  he  was  not  ignorant  of  the  relative  position 
of  parties  in  Geneva,  and  that  he  did  not  despair  of 
finding  supporters  in  coping  with  the  Reformer. 

After  the  first  five  questions  put  by  De  la  Fontaine, 
the  indictment  contained  others  regarding  the  doctrine 
of  Servetus,  accompanied  with  the  following  obser- 
vation : — 

"  And  inasmuch  as  he  may  equivocate,  pretending 
that  his  blasphemies  and  heresies  are  only  sound  doc- 
trine, the  said  Nicolas  proposes  certain  articles,  upon 
which  he  requires  the  said  heretic  to  be  examined. 

"  The  said  Nicolas  desires  that  the  said  Servetus 
be  constrained  to  reply  as  to  the ^ac^  of  the  articles 
now  lodged,  without  entering  into  dispute  regarding 
the  truth  or  falsehood  of  the  doctrine ;  for  that  will  be 
made  plain  hereafter." 

The  pursuing  party  thus  wished  to  establish  the 
point  of  fact,  and  to  shut  up  his  opponent  within  the 
strict  limits  of  an  affirmative  or  a  negative  reply. 
The  articles,  to  the  number  of  thirty-one,  referred,  in 
fact,  to  the  principal  assertions  of  Servetus  reckoned 
heretical  by  the  Genevese  Reformer,  and  which  were 
all  cited,  not  according  to  the  book  printed  at  Vienne, 


100  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

but  according  to  the  work  in  MS.  sent  to  Calvin  by 
Servetus  some  years  before,  which  contained  a  suffi- 
ciently accurate  sketch  of  the  work  thereafter  pub- 
lished. As  to  the  books  upon  the  Trinity,  printed  at 
Haguenau  in  1531  and  1532,  and  which  would  have 
served  equally  well  as  means  of  conviction,  there  does 
not  appear  any  citation  taken  from  them,  in  the  whole 
course  of  the  proceedings,  because,  it  seems,  the  pur- 
suers had  not  been  able  to  procure  them.* 

Among  the  articles  to  which  the  Lord-Lieutenant 
behoved  to  make  Servetus  answer,  the  greater  part 
had  reference  to  the  remarks  which  the  latter  had 
made  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity — some  to  the 
manner  in  which  he  conceived  God  to  be  connected 
with  his  creatures — others  to  the  nature  of  the  soul — 
others  to  the  impeccability  and  baptism  of  infants.t 
Servetus  being  proved  to  hold  certain  of  the  opinions 
which  were  imputed  to  him,  he  denied  some,  explain- 
ed away  others,  and  equivocated  regarding  the  rest. 
The  endeavour  of  De  la  Fontaine,  to  limit  him  strictly 
to  affirmation  or  negation,  had  not  been  crowned  with 
success. 


*  Calvin  had  asked  Viret,  then  at  Lausanne,  to  supply  this  defi- 
ciency; and  he  replied,  22d  August  1553:  "  Behold  you,  then, 
engaged  in  a  new  discussion  with  Servetus.  We  have  not  yet  been 
able  to  procure  the  book  which  he  published  twenty  years  ago. 
Saunier  will  return  to-day,  I  hope ;  and  I  think  I  have  formerly 
seen  a  copy  with  him.  If  he  still  has  it,  he  will  not  refuse  it  to  us; 
and  I  shall  put  you  in  possession  of  it  as  early  as  possible."  The 
two  works  on  the  Trinity  are  now  the  only  productions  of  Servetus 
which  the  Library  of  Geneva  possesses. 

+  See  Appendix,  B. 


THE  EXAMINATION.  101 

After  the  theological  grievances  came  the  personal: 
"  Item— That,  in  the  person  of  M.  Calvin,  minister  of 
the  Word  of  God  in  this  Church  of  Geneva,  he  has 
defamed,  in  his  printed  book,  the  doctrine  which  is 
preached  here,  uttering  all  the  injuries  and  blas- 
phemies which  it  is  possible  to  invent."  Servetus 
replied  that  "  M.Calvin  had,  before  that  time,  injured 
him  in  many  printed  books;  that  he  had  answered 
hjm,  showing  that  Calvin  erred  in  some  places;  and 
that,  when  accused  of  writing  Uke  one  intoxicated, 
he  had  retorted,  and  repeated  that  Calvin  erred  in 
very  many  passages." 

The  attack  upon  Calvin  still  appears  in  this — it 
manifests  itself  in  the  bitter  terms  employed,  and 
proves  that  Servetus  thought  himself  strong  enough 
not  to  finesse  with  his  opponent. 

The  last  question  in  the  examination  referred  to 
the  printing  of  Servetus'  book  at  Yienne.     It  had 
been  superintended  by  a  Genevese,  named  William 
Gueroult,  who  belonged  to  the  Libertine  party,  and 
had  been  banished  from  Geneva  two  years  before, 
whither  he  had   recently  returned.     Gueroult,  who 
was  known  to  have  been  employed  as  a  corrector 
of  the  press  in  the  office  in  which  the   work  was 
printed,  denied  all  share  in  its  correction;  while  Ser- 
vetus affirmed  the  contrary — and  he  then  spoke  the 
truth.     But  the  next  day,  being  better  advised,  and 
having  probably  been  privately  informed  that  this 
confession  might  injure  both  himself  and  Gueroult, 
by  establishing  the  connection  that  subsisted  between 
them,  Servetus  denied  what  he  had  said  the  evening 


102  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

before,  and  affirmed,  like  the  corrector  himself,  that 
no  connection  had  ever  existed  between  them  at 
Vienne:  he  maintained  this  assertion  to  the  last.* 

The  examination  being  over,  De  la  Fontaine  asked 
leave  to  refute  the  denials  of  Servetus,  by  producing 
passages  contained  in  works  of  his  composing.  He 
presented,  in  consequence,  two  of  his  writings — of 
which  the  one  was  the  Christianismi  Restitutio^ 
printed  at  Vienne ;  the  other,  the  work  in  manuscript 
to  which  the  citations  contained  in  the  indictment 
referred,  and  which  Servetus  acknowledged  to  be 
his;  adding,  that  he  had  sent  it  "to  M.  Calvin  about 
six  years  before,  to  obtain  his  opinion  regarding  it." 
Finally,  there  was  presented  to  Servetus  an  edition  of 
the  Geography  of  Ptolemy,  and  a  Latin  Bible — each 
containing  annotations  of  which  he  confessed  he  was 
the  author. 

After  this,  "  the  said  Fontaine  and  the  said  Ser- 
vetus were  committed  as  criminals  to  John  Grasset, 
the  keeper  of  the  prison,  to  be  detained,  under  pain 
of  death.  And  the  said  Servetus  has  declared  that 
he  has  intrusted  to  the  said  Grasset  ninety-seven 
cro^vns,  a  chain  of  gold  weighing  about  twenty 
cro^vns,  and  also  six  gold  rings."  This  silver,  and 
these  trinkets,  which  consisted  of  "  a  large  torquoise, 
a  white  sapphire,  a  diamond,  a  ruby,  a  large  emerald  of 

*  There  exists  incontestible  documentary  evidence  that  in  this 
denial  Servetus  stated  what  he  knew  to  be  untrue  ;  and  this  dis- 
covery is  damaging  to  one  who  professed  to  be  maintaining  a  high 
relio-ious  cause.  The  evidence  referred  to  will  be  seen  at  a  subse- 
quent part  of  this  volume. — Tr. 


NEW  MEASURES.  103 

Peru,  and  a  signet  ring  of  coralline,"*  were  afterwards 
deposited  in  the  hands  of  Pierre  Tissot,  who  rendered 
an  exact  account  of  them  when  the  process  was  con- 
cluded. 

The  inquest  of  the  Lord-Lieutenant  being  com- 
pleted, it  devolved  on  him,  according  to  the  duties  of 
his  office,  to  communicate  the  result  to  the  Syndics, 
constituted  by  the  Edicts  judges  in  causes  criminal."]* 
He  therefore  transmitted  to  them  the  next  day  (15th 
August),  in  Council,  an  abstract  of  the  examination, 
and  desired  that  the  accused  might  be  put  upon  his 
trial,  as  his  office  gave  Tissot  power  to  do ; ;}:  or  rather, 
as  the  process  was  raised  by  a  pursuing  party,  the 
Lieutenant  concluded  that  the  pursuer  should  be 
authorized  to  persevere  in  the  suit.  On  his  side, 
Nicolas  de  la  Fontaine  presented  a  petition,  which  we 
shall  transcribe  entire,  because  it  exhibits  very  exactly 
the  grievances  charged  against  Servetus,  and  the  di- 
rection w^hich  the  procedure  was  likely  to  take. 

"  In  your  presence,  Magnificent,  Powerful,  and 
most  Redoubtable  Lords,  Nicolas  de  la  Fontaine  de- 
clares that  he  has  been  constituted  prisoner  in  a 
criminal  prosecution  against  M.  Servetus,  for  the  grave 
scandals  and  troubles  which  the  said  Servetus  has 
already  occasioned  in  Christendom  for  the  space  of 

*  Registers  of  the  Council,  October  30,  1553. 

+  Que  lesdits  Sindicques  soient  juges  detoutes  causes  criminelles, 
estant  toutefoys  accompaignes  du  conseil." — Edicts  of '28th  January^ 
1543. 

J  Si  le  delinquant  se  trouve  criminel  sans  alcune  diflBculte,  et 
quil  (le  Lieutenant)  le  rende  pour  tel  quil  ayt  a  justifier  a  lencontre 
pour  fere  expedier  le  proces." — Edicts  of  l'2th  November,  1542. 


104  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

twenty-four  years,  or  thereby;  for  the  blasphemies 
which  he  has  spoken  and  written  against  God;  for 
the  heresies  with  which  he  has  infected  the  world; 
for  the  wicked  calumnies  and  false  defamations  which 
he  has  published  against  the  true  servants  of  God, 
and  especially  against  i\P-  Calvin,  whose  honour  the 
said  Proposant  is  bound  to  maintain  as  that  of  his 
pastor,  if  he  would  be  reckoned  a  Christian ;  and  also 
on  account  of  the  blame  and  the  dishonour  which 
might  accrue  to  the  Church  of  Geneva,  seeing  that 
the  said  Servetus  specially  condemns  the  doctrine 
which  is  preached  there. 

"  And  inasmuch  as  the  said  Servetus  was  examined 
yesterday,  and  did  not  answer  to  the  purpose,  but, 
instead  of  replying  pertinently  by  Yes  or  No,  stated 
what  he  pleased,  so  that  the  greater  part  of  his  an- 
swers appear  like  frivolous  stories,  may  it  please  you 
to  constrain  him  to  reply  formally  upon  each  article 
without  digressions,  that  he  may  no  more  mock  God 
and  your  Lordships,  and  also  that  the  said  Proposant 
be  not  frustrated  of  his  right. 

"  And  when  the  said  Proposant  shall  have  verified 
his  charge,  so  that  the  said  Servetus  shall  be  proved 
to  have  written  and  taught  the  heresies  contained  in 
the  Interrogatories,  the  said  Proposant  humbly  sup- 
plicates, that  if  you  judge  the  said  Servetus  to  be 
guilty,  and  deserving  to  be  prosecuted  by  your  Procu- 
rator-Fiscal, it  may  please  you  to  emit  a  declaration 
to  that  effect,  and  entirely  free  the  said  Proposant 
from  all  expense,  injury,  and  risk;  not  because  he 
shuns  or  refuses  to  prosecute  such  a  cause  and  quarrel. 


THE  EXAMINATION  RESUMED.  105 

which  all  Christians  and  children  of  God  ought  to 
maintain  even  unto  death,  but  because  he  understands 
that  the  usages  and  customs  of  your  city  warrant  that, 
and  because  it  belongs  not  to  him  to  undertake  the 
duty  and  office  of  another." 

After  taking  cognizance  of  this  petition,  and  the 
findings  of  the  Lieutenant,  the  Council  resolved,  that 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  they  should  proceed 
to  the  bishops'  palace,  there  to  commence  proceed- 
ings, according  to  the  usual  forms.  Accompanied, 
then,  according  to  usage,*  by  the  herald,  Ayme  des 
Arts,  and  some  of  the  citizens  named  "  to  assist  in 
criminal  processes,  along  with  the  Little  Council,!  and 
also  by  the  Lieutenant,  who,  in  terms  of  the  Edicts, 
behoved  to  be  present  in  all  criminal  affairs  as  "at- 
torney for  the  public,"  their  Lordships  proceeded  to 
the  hall  of  the  ancient  Episcopal  Palace,  where  they 
held  their  criminal  courts,  and  there  summoned  Ser- 
vetus  and  Fontaine  before  them. 

The  latter  being  asked  "  if  he  wished  to  persist  in 
the  suit  raised  by  him  against  M.  Servetus  of  Arragon, 
answered,  that  he  did."  The  Court  thereupon  pro- 
ceeded to  examine  Servetus,  who  "  being  personally 
present,  and  having  taken  the  oath  to  speak  the  truth 
under  pain  of  sixty  sous^  and  of  having  the  case  held 
as  confessed,  was  interrogated  whence  he  came,  and 

*  "  Que  le  Sautier  accompagne  les  Sindicques  en  tous  actes  de 
Justice." — Edicts  o/1543. 

+  Every  year  there  were  chosen  in  the  Council  of  Sixty,  and  of 
Two  Hundred,  nine  citizens,  who  had  the  right  to  sit  in  criminal 
procasfes,  but  did  not  take  part  in  the  judgment. 


106  CALVIN  AND  SERYETUS. 

replied  that  he  was  a  Spaniard,  an  Arragonese  of 
Villeneuve,  and  a  physician,  by  name  M.  Servetus." 
They  then  repeated  all  the  questions  which  had  al- 
ready been  put  on  the  previous  evening  by  the  Lord- 
Lieutenant;  and  the  prisoner  repHed  to  the  chief 
nearly  in  the  same  terms  as  before,  but  still  more 
keenly  accusing  Calvin,  and  Calvin  alone,  of  having 
caused  the  prosecution  at  Yienne;  "so  that  it  is  not 
owing  to  Calvin,  as  Servetus  says,  that  the  prisoner 
has  not  been  burned  alive." 

Regarding  all  that  concerns  the  Trinity,  the  nature 
of  Jesus  Christ,  the  connection  between  the  essence  of 
God  and  created  beings,  Servetus  held  the  same  lan- 
guage— he  denied,  as  at  first,  that  he  had  taught  that 
the  soul  is  mortal,  but  confessed  having  written  that 
man  does  not  commit  mortal  sin  till  the  age  of  twenty; 
adding,  that  "  in  the  law  of  God  it  is  thus  decided." 
He  also  acknowledged,  that  in  his  eyes  "  the  bap- 
tism of  little  infants  is  a  diabolical  invention — an  in- 
fernal falsehood  to  destroy  the  whole  of  Christianity;" 
declaring  of  the  other  points,  "  that  if  he  had  erred, 
he  was  ready  to  correct  himself."  Finally,  as  to  his 
attacks  against  the  Church  of  Geneva  in  the  person 
of  Calvin,  he  replied  as  at  first,  adding,  that  "  what 
he  had  formerly  written  against  Calvin  in  his  own 
defence,  had  not  been  with  the  intention  of  injuring, 
but  to  show  him  his  errors  and  his  faults,  which 
he  undertook  to  demonstrate  in  full  congregation, 
by  divers  reasons,  and  authorities  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures." 

This  was  to  challenge  Calvin,  and  offer  him  battle 


A  CHALLENGE.  107 

on  a  field  which  he  could  not  decline,  since  he  also 
admitted  no  other  judge  of  that  field  but  the  Word 
of  God.  This  step  on  the  part  of  Servetus  was  a  bold 
one,  and  can  be  explained  only  by  his  hope  of  finding 
in  the  contest  an  opportunity  of  measuring  himself 
with  advantage  against  his  opponent,  before  a  public 
hostile  to  the  latter,  and  thus  to  change  his  position 
of  accused  into  that  of  assailant.  A  public  debate 
would  have  given  importance  to  the  struggle,  and 
procured  for  him  means  of  influence  which  he  could 
not  enjoy  in  his  prison.  He  appears  to  have  again 
reiterated  this  challenge  in  the  course  of  the  process, 
"  complaining,"  says  Calvin,  '•  that  it  was  not  decent 
nor  becoming  to  treat  before  an  earthly  tribunal,  and 
even  in  prison,  of  the  affairs  of  Christianity."*  But 
the  magistrates  refused  to  entertain  the  proposal, 
though  Calvin,  for  his  part,  agreed,  and  protested 
that,  as  far  as  regarded  him,  "  there  was  nothing 
that  he  more  desired  than  to  plead  such  a  cause  in 
the  temple  before  all  the  people."t 

The  Council  feared,  no  doubt,  that  it  would  thus 
dispossess  itself  of  the  cognizance  of  an  affair  which 
stood  connected  with  the  prerogatives  of  which  it  had 
recently  appeared  so  jealous.  J  On  the  other  hand, 
the  friends  of  Servetus  among  the  magistrates  might 

*  Declaration^  p.  1327. 

t  Ibid. 

X  This  sentence  of  Rilliet  indicates  another  reason  for  the  prose- 
cution against  Servetus.  The  Council  was,  in  fact,  carrying  out 
what  it  regarded  as  its  prerogative.  It  was  seeking  to  secure  to 
itself  power  spiritual  as  well  as  civil. — Tr. 


108  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

fear  to  see  their  protege  defeated  by  Calvin,  whose 
word  was  much  more  powerful,  and  thus  have  their 
own  hands  fettered  in  the  final  judgment,  by  the 
result  of  the  public  discussion.  The  spirit  of  domina- 
tion, and  that  of  prudence,  thus  induced  the  Council 
to  deny  the  conference  which  Servetus  desired. 

The  first  examination  before  the  magistrates  being 
concluded,  they  delayed  till  another  day  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  charge,  and  enjoined  the  pursuer  to  be 
ready  to  prove  and  verify  the  points  which  Servetus 
denied.  The  replies  of  the  latter  had  not  appeared 
satisfactory  to  the  Court,  since  it  thought  right  to 
continue  the  process.  It  is  probable  that,  while  the 
whole  discussion  concerning  the  Trinity  was  beyond 
the  comprehension  of  the  theologians  of  the  Council, 
the  condemnation  which  Servetus  so  violently  pro- 
nounced against  the  baptism  of  infants  might,  on  the 
other  hand,  appear  a  doctrine  by  so  much  the  more 
dangerous,  as  it  was  associated  in  their  minds  with 
the  bad  political  renown  of  the  Anabaptists.  It  was 
under  this  impression  that  the  tribunal,  acceding  to 
the  latter  portion  of  the  request  presented  by  De  la 
Fontaine,  decided  that,  "  since,  by  the  replies  of  the 
said  accused,  he  was  found  to  be  guilty,  it  is  resolved 
that  the  said  Nicolas,  the  pursuer,  be  released,  under 
submission,  and  with  surety  to  follow  up  his  charge." 
De  la  Fontaine,  in  fact,  came  under  an  obligation  "  to 
present  himself  as  often  as  he  might  be  called,  and  to 
prosecute  his  case."  He  then  introduced  as  his  surety 
the  Honourable  Anthony  Calvin,  a  citizen  of  Geneva, 
and  brother  of  the  Reformer. 


p.  BERTHELIER  AND  G.  COLLADON.  1  09 

The  next  day  (Wednesday),  16th  of  August,  the 
Court  resumed  before  a  number  of  judges  inferior 
to  those  of  the  preceding  evening;  but  among  the 
assessors  two  new  characters  were  found.     The  one, 
who  occupied  as  an  auditor  the  place  of  the  absent 
Lieutenant,  was  Philibert  Berthelier;  the  other,  who 
appeared  as  the  advocate  or  "  Speaker"  of  De  la  Fon- 
taine, was  M.  Germain  Colladon.     Between  them, 
more  than  between  all  the  other  inhabitants  of  the 
Republic,  the  contrast  was  complete;  and  one  cannot 
regard  them  otherwise  than  as  the  representatives  of 
the  two  parties  which  then  divided  Geneva— that  of 
the  patriots,  and  that  of  the  strangers— the  antago- 
nists and  the  friends  of  Calvin. 

Berthelier,  we  have  said,  was  one  of  those  who 
submitted  Avith  impatience  to  the  yoke  of  the  Re- 
former.    As  the  son  of  one  of  the  martyrs  to  the 
political  freedom  of  Geneva,  his  social  position  and  his 
taste  for  pleasure  gave  him  the  highest  rank  among 
the  independent  and  dissipated  youth.     He  was  in 
Geneva  the  true  princeps  juventutis,  and  we  find 
him  at  the  head  of  all  the  opposition  offered  by  the 
Liberty  party  to  the  austere  reforms  of  Calvin.     In 
the  latter,  he  saw  only  a  stranger  who  came  to  curtad 
the  independence  of  the  native  country  of  the  Gene- 
vese,  for  the  sake  of  absolute  and  rigid  notions.    Such 
attempts  irritated  at  once  his  inclinations,  his  self- 
esteem,  and  his  patriotism;  and  between  the  Reformer 
and  him  there  followed  a  warfare,  whose  issue  cost 
Berthelier  his  residence  in  his  native  land,  and  the 
life  of  his  brother,  as  the  struggle  for  the  liberties  of 


110  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

Geneva  against  the  Duke  of  Savoy  had  cost  his  father 
his  head.  At  the  moment  which  occupies  our  atten- 
tion, Bertheher,  under  the  weight  of  a  sentence  of 
excommunication  passed  hy  the  Consistory,  which 
Calvin  did  not  wish  to  remove,  was  more  than  ever 
exasperated  against  him ;  and  it  is  evident  that  it  was 
to  seek  an  opportunity  of  annoying  him  that  he  came 
to  take  part  in  the  trial  of  Servetus. 

Germain  Colladon  presented  himself  with  a  diffe- 
rent design.  To  the  type  of  the  Libertine  party  he 
opposed,  In  his  person,  the  type  of  the  Refugees.  His 
serious  convictions,  and  a  disposition  to  austerity,  had 
thrown  him  into  the  ranks  of  the  French  Reformed. 
Born  in  Berry,  he  had  been  obliged,  for  the  free  ex- 
ercise of  his  faith,  to  come  to  seek  refuge  in  Geneva, 
with  all  the  exiles  who  preferred,  like  him,  their  reli- 
gion to  their  native  land — their  God  to  their  home. 
Still  young,  but  trained  for  the  bar,  the  grave  studies 
of  jurisprudence  had  fortified  in  his  mind  a  natural 
tendency  to  inflexibility,  while  his  profession  of  advo- 
cate had  initiated  him  in  the  management  of  affairs. 
Devoted  to  Calvin  by  respect  and  by  sympathy,  his 
talents  rendered  him  one  of  the  most  useful  allies  of 
the  Reformer,  with  whom  he  subsequently  co-operated 
in  establishing  in  Geneva  a  constitution  adapted  to 
its  new  condition.  For  the  time,  he  occupied  a  distin- 
guished place  in  the  ranks  of  the  oppressed  party — 
the  party  which  was  destined,  two  years  thereafter,  to 
retaliate  upon  the  real  children  of  Geneva,  and  fill  by 
adoption  the  voids  left  among  the  citizens  by  the 
expulsion  of  the  natural  heirs.     The  firmness  of  his 


THE  TRIAL  ADVANCES.  Ill 

faith — his  connection  with  Calvin — his  practice  at  the 
bar — rendered  Colladon  perhaps  the  best  advocate 
that  could  be  assigned  to  De  la  Fontaine  to  cope  with 
Servetus.  He  was,  without  any  doubt,  called  to  that 
task  by  the  Reformer  himself,  who  did  not  wish 
needlessly  to  appear  in  the  lists,  but  who  felt  the 
necessity  of  opposing  to  the  accused  a  man  so  able  to 
detect  his  reservations,  to  elicit  his  confessions,  and 
drag  into  light  his  heresies  and  his  guilt. 

In  the  main,  between  Berthelier  and  Colladon,  the 
contest  referred  less  to  Servetus  than  to  Calvin — the 
latter  rather  than  the  former  was  the  true  object  of 
attack  and  of  defence;  and  each  of  the  antagonists 
saw  behind  the  proceedings  carried  on  in  the  bishops* 
palace  the  interest  of  the  parties  who  disputed  for 
Geneva.  The  meeting  in  which  they  encountered 
was  short,  no  doubt,  because  it  was  stormy.* 

De  la  Fontaine  and  Colladon  first  produced  the 
books  intended  to  prove  the  accuracy  of  the  citations 
quoted  against  Servetus.  These  were  the  passages 
from  Melancthon  and  CEcolampadius,  where  they 
speak  of  him ;  then  the  Ptolemy,  and  Bible  containing 
his  Annotations;  and  finally,  a  printed  copy  of  the 
Christianismi  Restitutio.  The  examination  was  then 
resumed  upon  the  articles  already  twice  brought  for- 
ward; and  Servetus  having  replied  equivocally  as  to 
the  sense  which  he  attached  to  the  word  person  in  the 
mystery  of  the  Trinity,  Germain  Colladon,  who  did 

*  An  accurate  estimate  of  this  trial  can  scarcely  be  formed,  unless 
the  view  presented  in  these  sentences  be  carefully  borne  in  mind. — 
Tr. 


112  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

not  wish  any  uncertainty  to  hang  over  the  origin 
of  the  essential  heresy  of  Servetus,  declared  that  he 
oflFered  to  "  prove,  by  many  passages  of  the  book 
which  Servetus  had  written,  that  he  meant  other- 
wise than  he  now  said  regarding  the  Trinity." 

Following  up  his  proofs,  by  citing  the  places  of  the 
Christianisrai  Restitutio  to  which  the  articles  in  the 
complaint  lodged  by  La  Fontaine  referred,  it  appears 
that  Colladon  was  interrupted  by  Berthelier,  who, 
undertaking  the  defence  of  Servetus,  wished  to  main- 
tain the  truth  of  the  doctrines  published  in  his  work, 
and  to  speak  in  favour  of  the  accused.  Between 
Colladon  and  him  a  contest  then,  no  doubt,  began, 
of  which  the  minute  makes  no  mention;  but  the 
traces  are  found  in  the  blanks  which  the  record  pre- 
sents regarding  the  tenth  and  eleventh  articles,  and 
by  the  abrupt  termination  which  follows :  "  Here 
they  proceeded  no  further,  but  adjourned  till  to-mor- 
row at  mid-day — and  let  a  book  be  lent  to  the  exa- 
mined, and  to  the  said  (parties)  the  answers  (given  at 
the  first  examinations),  and  let  them  make  their  case 
all  ready."  The  meeting  broke  up  in  a  short  time, 
without  the  usual  forms,  and  without  a  single  step 
taken  in  the  process.  One  may  conclude  that  Ber- 
thelier did  not  wish  to  allow  Servetus  to  be  annoyed 
without  interfering  in  his  favour,  and  that  the  presid- 
ing Syndic  had  adjourned  the  Court,  to  put  an  end  to 
the  discussion. 

And  further :  what  one  may  conjecture  from  the 
information  of  the  minute  is  plainly  proved  by  the 
Registers  of  the  Council.     They  tell  us  that,  the  next 


CALVIN  APPEARS  IN  THE  TRIAL.  113 

day  after  this  scene,  Thursday,  the  17th  of  August, 
Calvin,  who  had  been  informed  of  it,  demanded  an 
audience  at  the  Council  Chamber.  He  felt  that  the 
moment  had  arrived  for  him  to  appear,  boldly  to 
resist  the  hostilities  against  him  of  which  Servetus 
was  about  to  become  the  occasion,  unless  they  were 
energetically  opposed  from  the  commencement.* 
Ceasing,  then,  to  conceal  himself  behind  La  Fon- 
taine and  Colladon,  he  became,  for  the  first  time, 
openly  the  accuser  of  the  prisoner,  and  "drew  at- 
tention to  many  errors  written  by  the  said  Servetus, 
as  his  books  showed;"  declaring  "that  he  did  not 
wish  to  excuse  himself  for  having  permitted  his  ser- 
vant Nicolas  to  become  a  party  against  the  said 
Servetus,  and  that  he  was  now  willing  to  pursue,  as 
one  prepared  to  be  himself  the  prosecutor."  He 
added,  regarding  P.  Berthelier,  "  that  he  understood, 
by  the  process,  that  Berthelier  had  interfered  to 
plead  in  excuse  and  defence  of  those  things  which 

*  "  Jey  est  este  aoys  M.  Calvin  sus  I'affaire  de  Michiel  Servet,  et  a 
propose  plusieurs  faulses  erreurs  escriptes  par  ledict  Servet,  com- 
ment ses  livres  monstrent;  et  devantage  a  propose  de  P.  Bertelier 
que  il  entendre  par  le  process  que  il  se  mesle  de  parler  en  excuse,  et 
couverte  de  ceulx  que  ledict  Servet  a  volu  nommer  consties  de  son 
livre.  Item,  et  a  propose  quil  ne  se  veult  pas  excuser  d'havoir  loe 
a  son  serviteur  Nycolas  de  faire  partie  contre  ledict  Servet,  et  de 
voloir  suy vre  comment  celluy  quil  veult  bien  estre  contre  luy  partie. 

"  Sus  quoy  est  declare  que  Ion  suyvre  ledict  prisonnier,  et  affin  que 
myeulx  luy  puyssent  estre  remonstrees  ses  erreurs,  M.  Calvin,  et 
quel  il  voudra  avecques  luy,  puyssent  assister  avecques  ledict  Nyco- 
las a  ses  responses,  et  remonstrer  les  erreurs,  et  les  paissages  pour 
prouver."— ^./;<rac^  Jrom  the  Registers  of  the  Little  Council,  lltk 
Augiist,  1553. 

n 


114  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

the  said  Servetus  had  consented  to  name  as  estab- 
lished by  his  book."'^  Though  the  meaning  of  the 
last  phrase  be  not  clear,  the  interposition  of  Ber- 
thelier  in  favour  of  Servetus  is  nevertheless  estab- 
lished ;  and  this  passage  of  the  register  perfectly  agrees 
with  the  narrative  w^e  have  given  of  the  interrupted 
meeting  of  the  16th  of  August.  Besides,  the  protec- 
tion held  out  by  Berthelier  to  Servetus  is  notorious 
— two  contemporaries,  Rosefj"  and  Theodore  Bezaij: 
expressly  declare  it.  It  was  the  natural  result  of 
their  common  hostility  to  the  Reformer;  and  we 
have  here  the  first  indication  of  the  support  given  to 
the  prisoner  by  the  Libertine  party. 

The  observations  of  Calvin  in  the  Council  having, 
no  doubt,  strengthened  the  impressions  already  re- 
ceived by  the  majority  of  the  members  of  Court,  re- 
garding the  theological  culpability  of  Servetus,  it  was 
of  new  resolved  to  persevere  in  the  prosecution,  and 
to  endeavour,  either  to  reclaim  him,  or  render  his 
heresies  manifest  to  all.  Calvin  was  authorized  to 
assist,  "  in  order  that  his  errors  might  be  better  de- 
monstrated," and  to  have  "whomsoever  he  chose  with 
him"  at  the  examinations  of  the  prisoner.  Thus,  the 
adjourned  meeting  of  the  previous  day  having  been 
resumed  to  hear  the  answers  of  Servetus,  Calvin  as- 
sisted there;  and  it  appears  that,  besides  the  ordinary 
members   of  the  Court,   other  citizens,    introduced, 

*  This  is  perhaps  the  meaning;  but  the  obsolete  French  and  the 
style  render  it  difficult  to  interpret  the  words. — Tr, 
-f  Chroniques^  lib.  v.,  ch.  50,  51. 
X  Vie  de  Calvin,  under  the  year  1553. 


THE  CHARGES  AGAINST  SERVETUS.  115 

perhaps,  by  the  Reformer  in  terms  of  the  Council's 
authority,  were  present  at  the  examination.* 

It  turned,  as  before,  on  the  different  points  men- 
tioned in  the  libel  lodged  by  La  Fontaine,  for  whom 
Colladon  continued  to  plead.  The  debate  was  more 
clear  than  at  the  previous  sittings;  and  both  the 
advocate  and  the  accused  entered  upon  details  till 
then  kept  in  the  shade.  The  libel  bore  that  Servetus 
had  been  condemned  in  Germany,  and  quoted,  in 
proof,  the  passages  where  Melancthon  and  CEcolam- 
padius  most  severely  blamed  his  doctrine;  to  which 
Servetus  with  truth  replied,  that  the  opinion  of  these 
Reformers  did  not  imply  that  he  had  been  the  object 
of  judicial  condemnation;  and  Colladon,  reduced  to 
the  hypothesis,  replied,  that  "  if  Servetus  and  the 
printer  had  been  apprehended,  they  had  been  con- 
demned"— a  convenient  argument,  where  the  advo- 
cate puts  forth  as  a  fact  the  very  point  that  was  in 
question. 

On  the  subject  of  the  Geography  of  Ptolemy,  pub- 
lished by  Servetus,  with  notes,  in  one  of  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  libel,  some  doubts  injurious  to  Mosesr 
were  emitted  regarding  the  supposed  fertility  of  Pales- 
tine, the  accused  replied  (and  he  spoke  the  truth),  that 
the  note  founded  on  was  not  his,  and  that  sufficed  for 
his  justification ;  but  he  added,  that,  nevertheless,  it 
contained  nothing  reprehensible.  This  reservation  in- 
censed Calvin,  who  now  began  to  speak,  and  proved, 
by  many  arguments,  that  such  an  allegation  neces- 

*  Declaration^  pp.  1354,  1440. 


116  CALVIN  AND  SERVETtJS. 

sarily  inculpated  Moses,  and  was  "  a  great  outrage 
against  the  Holy  Spirit;"  but  Servetus  would  not  ac- 
quiesce. ''  So  far,"  says  Calvin,  "  was  that  vile  dog 
from  being  abashed  by  such  pertinent  arguments,  that 
he  only  twitched  his  muzzle,  saying  :  '  Let  us  pass  to 
something  else — there  is  nothing  wrong  there.'  "* 

A  Latin  Bible,  published  at  Lyons,  under  the  care 
of  Servetus,  formed  another  ground  of  charge,  as  con- 
tainins  certain  annotations  little  conformable  to  the 
analogy  of  faith — among  other  things,  an  explana- 
tion of  the  passage  where  Isaiah  (ch.  liii.)  speaks  of 
the  servant  of  God  who  carried  the  iniquities  of  his 
people,  which  Servetus,  according  to  the  Hbel,  under- 
stood of  Cyrus,  wdiilst  the  Christian  Church  under- 
stands it  of  Jesus  Christ.t  To  that  Servetus,  sup- 
porting himself,  right  or  wrong,  by  "  the  ancient 
doctors  who  have  attached  a  double  sense  to  the  Old 
Testament,"  replied,  that  "the  principal  should  be 
understood  of  Jesus  Christ;  but  the  history  and  the 
letter  must  be  understood  of  Cyrus."  In  spite  of  this 
explanation,  which  preserved  the  prophetic  authority 
of  the  passage,  Calvin  replied,  ''that  never  would 
Servetus  have  had  the  hardihood  so  wretchedly  to 
corrupt  a  passage  so  noble,  had  he  not  lost  all  sense 
of  shame,  while  taking  a  diabolical  pleasure  in  sup- 
pressing the  Christian  faith."  :|:  Servetus  was  not 
moved  by  this  censure  more  than  the  preceding,  and 

*  Declaration^  p.  1354. 

f  It  should  be  observed,  that  Servetus  is  not  singular  in  holding 
the  opinion  here  ascribed  to  hini. — Tr. 
X  Declaration,  p.  1354. 


DISCUSSIONS  ON  THE  TRINITY.  117 

his  coolness  served  only  to  render  him  more  culpable 
in  the  eyes  of  Calvin. 

The  printing  of  the  Christianismi  Restitutio,  which 
formed  one  of  the  most  essential  aggravations  of  the 
case,  was  next  charged  against  Servetus  by  his  ac- 
cusers; and  as  he  professed  to  have  published  the  book, 
to  have  his  errors  corrected  if  he  were  wrong,  it  was 
answered :  "  That  it  was  not  necessary  to  print  in 
order  to  be  corrected,"  especially  "  when  one  has  been 
previously  admonished  of  his  errors." 

At  last  they  arrived  at  the  articles  concerning  the 
Trinity.  The  discussion  turned  chiefly  upon  the 
ancient  fathers  of  the  Church,  to  whom  Servetus  as- 
cribed opinions  like  his  own  upon  the  point  in  ques- 
tion.* He  declared  that  anterior  to  the  Council  of 
Nice,  no  doctor  had  employed  the  word  Trinity,  and 
that,  if  the  ancient  fathers  admitted  a  distinction  in 
the  divine  essence,  that  distinction  w^as  not  real,  but 
merely  personal;  that  is  to  say,  it  clearly  implied 
three  special  modifications  in  the  same  essence,  but 
did  not  prove  three  equal  and  distinct  subsistences  in 
the  same  Being.  Servetus  added,  that  he  in  effect 
reckoned  those  men  "Trinitarians  and  Atheists,"  who 

*  It  deserves  to  be  noted,  that  wlienever  a  heresy  is  to  be  estab- 
lished, the  men  called  the  fathers,  but  really  the  children  of  the 
Christian  dispensation,  are  the  parties  cited  in  proof.  Servetus,  in 
the  sixteenth  century;  the  Laudites,  or  Canterburians,  in  the  seven- 
teenth; Priestley,  in  the  eighteenth;  and  the  Puseyites,  in  the  nine- 
teenth— all  in  effect  support  the  same  cause  by  the  same  means.  The 
error  is  refuted,  in  a  spirit  of  high  Christian  philosophy,  in  a  sermon 
by  Dr  Chalmers,  on  "  The  Respect  Due  to  Antiquity."  It  will  be 
found  in  the  eleventh  volume  of  his  collected  works. — Te. 


118  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

"  disguised "  the  true  Trinity;  and  he  did  not  deny 
that  he  gave  to  the  doctrine,  as  understood  of  three 
distinct  subsistences  in  one  essence,  the  name  of 
"  Cerberus,  the  dreams  of  S.  Augustine,  and  an  in- 
vention of  the  devil."  The  opposite  party  sought 
to  show  that  the  doctrine  imputed  by  Servetus  to  the 
ancient  fathers  was  unknown  to  them,  and  that  he 
could  cite  in  his  favour  only  "  apocryphal  writings, 
which  are  full  of  absurdities." 

The  other  errors  signalized  as  heretical  by  the  in- 
dictment were  confessed  by  the  accused,  or  proved  by 
textual  quotations,  both  from  his  printed  book  and 
his  work  sent  in  manuscript  to  Calvin;  while  this 
protracted  debate  appears  to  have  led  to  other  very 
keen  discussions.  A  single  instance  which  Calvin 
relates,  and  which  could  not  be  questioned,  even 
though  the  minutes  do  not  mention  it,''^  may  give 
some  idea  of  the  cast  of  Servetus'  mind.  They  were 
discussing  the  relations  between  the  divine  substance 
and  that  of  the  creatures,  which,  being  viewed  in  a 
pantheistic  light  by  the  Spaniard,  were  mingled  by 
him  in  a  kind  of  identity  of  nature,  so  that  he  de- 
Glared  that  "  all  creatures  are  of  the  substance  of 
God,  and  that  all  things  are  full  of  infinite  Gods." 
"  I  was  shocked,"  continues  Calvin,  "  by  an  absur- 
dity so  gross,  and  sharply  replied:  How,  unhappy 
man,  if  any  one  strike  the  pavement  with  his  foot, 
and  say  that  he  tramples  on  thy  God,  wouldst  thou 

*  This  fact  is  elsewhere  attested  hy  Servetus  himself,  who,  when 
Calvin  alluded  to  it  in  their  written  discussion,  seeks  to  explain,  it 
otherwise  than  his  opponent,  but  does  not  deny  it. 


PANTHEISTIC  VIEWS  OP  SERVETUS.  119 

not  be  horrified  at  having  subjected  the  Majesty  of 
Heaven  to  such  indignity  ?  He  then  replied :  '  I  have 
no  doubt  that  this  bench,  and  this  buffet,  and  all  that 
you  can  show  me,  are  of  the  substance  of  God.'  Forth- 
with, when  it  was  objected,  that  in  his  estimation 
the  devil  must  be  substantially  God,  smiling,  he  very 
boldly  rejoined :  'Can  you  doubt  it?  As  forme,  I 
hold  this  for  a  general  maxim,  that  all  things  are  part 
and  parcel  of  God,  and  that  all  nature  is  his  substan- 
tial Spirit.'"* 

Finally,  as  to  the  personal  grievances,  the  pursuer 
produced  in  proof,  besides  the  letter  addressed  to  Cal- 
vin, and  contained  in  the  Christianismi  Restitutio^  a 
copy  of  the  Institutes  of  Calvin,  on  the  margins  of 
which  Servetus  had  wTitten  notes  offensive  to  the 
Reformer.  He  also  lodged  a  letter  in  Latin,  sent 
by  Servetus  to  Abel  Popin,  a  minister  of  the  Church 
of  Geneva,  in  which  the  keenest  attacks  were  made 
against  the  doctrines  of  the  clergy  of  that  city.  Ser- 
vetus acknowledged  the  notes  and  the  letter  to  be 
his ;  the  latter  remained  annexed  to  the  papers  in  the 
process. 

TVe  have  already  seen  that  De  la  Fontaine,  in  his 
petition  of  the  15th  of  August,  had  asked  to  be  dis- 
charged as  a  party  in  the  suit,  having  sufficiently 
proved  the  justice  of  the  prosecution  against  Servietus. 
Colladon  repeated  this  request,  desiring  him  "  to  be 
discharged  and  liberated  from  the  obligation  under 
which  the  said  Nicolas  and  his  surety  lie,  with  judg- 
ment in  his  favour  for  all  the  expenses  and  loss  in- 

*  Declaration,  p,  1353. 


120  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

curred  in  prison."  Upon  this,  the  Court,  granting 
his  petition,  and  finding,  "  by  the  proofs  and  facts 
produced  on  the  part  of  the  pursuer,  that  Servetus 
clearly  appeared  to  be  guilty,"  resolved  immediately 
to  liberate  De  la  Fontaine,  and  Anthony  Calvin  his 
surety.  As  to  the  losses  and  charges  claimed  by  the 
complainer,  they  were  "  deferred  till  the  close  of  the 
action." 

Before  the  rising  of  the   Court,  some  additional 
questions  were  put  to  Servetus  referring  to  his  flight 
from  Vienne,  and  to  his  book.     He  explained,  upon 
the  first  point,  that  he  escaped  by  scaling  a  wall,  and 
that  he  had  afterwards  attempted  to  reach  Spain,  but 
had  returned  through  fear  of  the  police.     As  to  his 
book,  he  declared  that  they  had  thrown  off  a  thou- 
sand copies,  of  which  the  printer  had  sent  a  certain 
number  to  Frankfort.     Calvin  did  not  forget  this  last 
information,  which  was  corroborated  by  a  letter  of 
the  printer  himself;  and  a  few  days  thereafter  (27th 
August)  he  wrote  to  inform  the  Church  of  Frankfort, 
and  solicit  the  seizure  and  destruction  of  the  cargo. 
It  appears  that  it  was  an  agent  of  Robert  Stephen 
who  was  intrusted  with  the  request  of  Calvin,  and 
asked  to  superintend  its  fulfilment;*  but  it  is  pro- 
bable that  the  start  had  been  taken,  and  power  given 
a  month  before,  by  the  printer  at  Vienne  to  an  agent 
to   proceed  to  Frankfort,    "  secretly  to  destroy   the 
books,  without  leaving  a  single  page  or  fragment."  * 
However  this  may  be,  the  almost  entire  disappearance 
of  the  Chiistianismi  Restitutio  proves  that  the  copies 
*  Historia  de  Morte  Serveti,  in  MosJtevn,  p.  449. 


THE  PROSPECTS  AND  CONDUCT  OF  SERVETUS.     121 

forwarded  to  Frankfort  had  never  been  exposed  to 
sale,  and  that  they  were  all  destroyed.  The  sitting 
terminated  by  the  liberation  of  N.  de  la  Fontaine  and 
his  surety. 

The  first  act  of  the  Trial  is  ended. 

The  result  was  not  favourable  to  Servetus.  The 
interference  of  Berthelier  had  been  rather  injurious 
to  him,  by  bringing  Calvin  into  the  arena,  and  ren- 
dering him  so  much  more  eager  to  continue  the  con- 
test which  had  thus  become  doubly  important  to  him. 
This  keen  opposition  of  the  Reformer  immediately 
drew  off  from  Servetus  those  allies  who  did  not  wish 
to  engage  in  a  dubious  struggle  with  Calvin.  Aban- 
doned to  his  own  resources,  in  face  of  a  powerful 
opponent,  the  prisoner  understood  that  he  must  now 
change  his  system  of  defence,  and  recede  from  his 
position  of  aggressor.  His  policy  is  no  more  to  cope 
with  Calvin,  but  only  to  save  his  own  life.  To  vio-  \ 
lence  succeeds  moderation,  finesse  replaces  arrogance,  \ 
and  Servetus  is  about  to  put  forth  all  his  ingenuity 
to  prove  himself  innocuous.  / 

*  See  Appendix,  C,  for  a  letter  from  Arnoullet,  the  printer  of  the 
work,  to  P.  Bertet,  regarding  its  destruction. 


122  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  COUNCIL  OF  GENEVA  BECOMES  THE  PROSECUTOR 

OF  SERVETUS. 

During  the  last  days  of  the  week  in  which  Servetus 
was  imprisoned,  the  trial  was  suspended,  and  was  not 
resumed  till  Monday,  the  21st  of  August.  It  is 
probable  that  in  that  interval  Calvin  had  dealt  ur- 
gently with  the  judges  to  confirm  them  in  the  design 
of  establishing  the  culpability  of  Servetus,  and  had 
depicted  him  less  as  his  theological  adversary  than  as 
an  enemy  to  the  Christian  faith,  already  tried,  on 
that  single  account,  by  the  Romanists  themselves — 
Would  the  Council  show  itself  to  be  more  indifferent 
than  the  Romanists  were  in  defending  the  honour  of 
God? — Their  Lordships,  then,  in  Council,  adopted 
the  following  resolution  on  the  21st  of  August:  "  In- 
asmuch as  the  case  of  heresy  of  M.  Servetus  vitally 
affects  the  welfare  of  Christendom,  it  is  resolved  to 
proceed  with  his  trial;  and  also  to  write  to  Vienne  to 
know  why  he  was  imprisoned,  and  how  he  escaped; 
and  after  that,  when  all  is  ascertained,  to  write  to  the 
magistrates  of  Berne,  of  Bale,  of  Zurich,  of  Schaff- 


DEFERENCE  TO  THE  SWISS  CHURCHES.  123 

hausen,  and  other  Churches  of  the  Swiss,  to  acquaint 
them  with  the  whole." 

The  Council,  it  is  manifest,  even  in  following  Cal- 
vin's suggestions,  did  not  wish  to  depend  solely  on  his 
word,  nor  to  adopt  a  final  decision  till  it  should  rest  on 
the  opinion  of  the  foreign  Churches,  whose  authority 
resulted  from  their  impartial  position  in  the  debate. 
The  Council  recollected  that,  on  occasion  of  the  dis- 
cussion with  Bolsec,*  upon  whose  culpability  Calvin 
strenuously  insisted,  the  Churches  of  Switzerland, 
when  consulted,  had  exhorted  to  moderation  and  pru- 
dence in  a  way  that  did  not  satisfy  the  Reformer,  and 
that  the  Little  Council  of  Berne  had  expressed  itself 
strongly  against  the  employment  of  all  corporeal 
punishment.  One  learns  from  this,  that  the  confi- 
dence of  the  magistrates  in  Calvin  was  no  longer 
implicit,  independent  of  the  other  motives  of  op- 
position which  estranged  them  (now).  But  before 
having  recourse  to  a  foreign  jury,  the  Council  desired 
to  urge  forward  the  preparation  of  matters  for  the 
trial;  and  that  was  renewed  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day. 

The  right  to  prosecute  had  now  devolved  on  the 
A  ttorney- General,  Claude  Rigot,  in  consequence  of  the 
pursuing  party  being  freed,  and  in  compliance  with  the 
criminal  Edicts.t     He  was  not  prepared,  however, 

*  In  1551.  It  related  mainly  to  the  subject  of  predestination. 
Bolsec  was  banished,  returned  to  the  bosom  of  the  Popish  Church, 
and  then  took  revenge  on  Calvin  by  writing  a  scurrilous  Life  of 
him. — Tr. 

+  Ordonnances  of  1543.     "  Que  en  tontes  causes  qui  apportien- 


124  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

to  present  the  new  indictment;  and  the  first  part  of 
the  meeting  was  employed  in  examining  Servetus  on 
the  subject  of  a  letter  which  had  been  read  that 
morning  in  Council,  and  of  which  we  have  already 
spoken.  It  was  addressed  by  Balth.  Arnoullet,  the 
printer  of  the  Christianismi  Restitutio^  to  one  of  his 
friends,  named  Bertet,  residing  at  Chastillon.  In 
that  letter,'^  dated  on  the  14th  of  July,  Arnoullet  gave 
various  details  regarding  the  relations  which  had  sub- 
sisted between  Servetus  and  the  corrector,  Gueroult, 
from  which  it  was  plain  that  the  latter  alone  had 
been  in  connection  with  the  author,  and  had  full 
knowledge  of  the  contents  of  the  work.t  This  letter 
being  shown  to  Servetus,  he  replied  that  he  could 
not  recognise  it  as  the  production  of  Arnoullet,  be- 
cause his  handwriting  was  unknown  to  him ;  but  it 
proves  that  Arnoullet  was,  in  fact,  the  printer  of  the 
w^ork  of  Servetus,  and  had  been  imprisoned  at  Yienne 
along  with  him. 

After  this  special  examination,  the  second  part  of 
the  sitting  was  occupied  by  a  debate  between  the 
accused  and  Calvin,  who  had  been  introduced  with 
the  ministers,  his  colleagues,  "  to  maintain,"  accord- 
ing to  the  proces  verbal,  "  the  meaning  opposed  to 
that  which   Servetus  had  attached  to   the  authors." 


dront  au  bien  et  profit  de  la  ville,  le  procureur-general  soit  instant, 
merae  aux  causes  crimiuelles  qui  dependent,  quil  soit  adjoinct  au 
lieutenant." 

*  See  it,  Appendix,  C. 

•f"  It  will  be  borne  in  mind,  that  Servetus  had  first  acknowledged 
this,  then  denied  it,  and  persisted  in  the  denial. — Tr. 


A  RENCONTRE.  125 

Indeed,  Calvin   interpreted   the    passages   from   the 
fathers,  quoted  by  Servetus  in  support  of  his  thesis, 
in  a  manner  very  different  from  the  sense  which  the 
latter  assigned  to  them,  and  mentioned  Justin  Mar- 
tyr, among  others,  to  prove,  in  refutation  of  Servetus, 
that  the   ^Yord    Trinity  had  been  employed  in  the 
Church  anterior  to  the  Council  of  Nice.      On  this 
subject  Calvin  reports  a  feature  which  is  not  found 
in  the  minutes,  but  which  could  not  be  gratuitously 
ascribed  to  Servetus,  since  all  his  allies  (and  Berthelier 
was  among  them)  could  easily  have  denied  it.     He 
relates,  then,  that  having  brought  the  text  of  Justin, 
he  showed  to  Servetus  the  passages  where  that  author 
maintains  the  orthodox  doctrine  regarding  the  Trinity. 
— "  But  that  clever  man,    Servetus,"  adds   Calvin, 
"  who  gloried  especially  in  having  the  gift  of  tongues, 
knew  almost  as  well  how  to  read  Greek  as  a  child 
at  A,  B,  C.     Perceiving  that  he  was  in  a  trap,  he 
angrily  asked,  in  great  confusion,  for  the  Latin  transla- 
tion.    I  answered  that  there  w^as  not  one,  and  that 
none  had  ever  been  printed.     Upon  this,  I  took  occa- 
sion to  charge  him  with  impudence.     What  does  this 
show?     The  book  has  not  been  translated  into  Latin, 
and  you  cannot  read  Greek,  and  yet  you  pretend  that 
you  are  familiar  Avith  the  reading  of  Justin.     I  pray 
you,  whence  did  these  testimonies  come,  which  are 
produced  by  you  as  freely  as  if  you  had  the  author 
at  your  finger  ends?     He,  with  his  brazen  front,  as 
usual,  launched  out  into  idle  words,  and  showed  not 
the  least  symptom  of  being  touched  with  shame."* 

*  Declaration^  p.  1355. 


126  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

There  is  certainly  some  exaggeration  in  this  recital, 
for,  in  fact,  Servetus  knew  the  Greek;  his  edition  of 
Ptolemy,  and  his  philological  disquisitions  upon  pas- 
sages of  Scripture,  manifestly  prove  it.  Perceiving 
himself  defeated,  it  is  probable  that  he  hesitated  in 
his  reading,  and  to  try  to  veil  his  defeat,  he  would 
have  appealed  to  another  interpretation  than  Calvin's. 
The  latter  would  then  hasten  to  cohclude  that  his  op- 
ponent did  not  know  the  original  language  of  Justin, 
and  took  care  not  to  lose  the  opportunity  of  inflicting 
a  new  defeat. 

A  more  serious  discussion  followed  between  the 
Reformer  and  his  rival  regarding  the  use  of  the  title, 
Son  of  God.  Servetus  declared  that  it  should  not  be 
applied  to  Jesus  Christ  till  after  he  appeared  upon 
earth.  Calvin  affirmed,  with  the  Church,  that  it  was 
necessary  to  attach  the  title  to  the  invisible  and  divine 
Word,*  who  became  incarnate  in  the  person  of  Jesus; 
but  who,  previous  to  that,  and  from  all  eternity, 
formed  a  really  distinct  subsistence  in  the  essence  of 
God.  As  he  always  did,  Servetus  replied  that  this 
real  distinction  of  the  Word  was  a  false  idea,  and 
that  the  Son  of  God  did  not  exist  before  his  incarna- 
tion, except  as  a  simple  mode  of  being  in  the  God- 
head,t  and  not  as  a  person  endowed  with  his  own 
proper  existence,  in  the  divine  essence.  It  followed, 
and  the  debate  turned  on  this  point,  that,  according  to 

*  Rilliet  employs  both  the  terms  used  in  reference  to  this  desig- 
nation of  our  Lord,  and  says,  La  Parole  invisible,  le  Verbe  Divin. 
—Tr. 

"f*  *'  Que  comme  une  simple  maniere  d'etre  de  la  Divinite." 


PRECAUTIONS.  127 

Servetus,  the  Word,  not  being  a  separate  reality  in 
the  essence  of  God,  could  not  unite  himself  as  such 
to  the  person  of  Christ,  but  that  the  body  of  Christ 
was  formed  of  the  very  substance  of  the  Divinity; 
so  that  the  human  element  and  the  divine  were  not 
distinct,  but  intimately  mingled '""  in  a  single  unity— 
from  which  Calvin  concluded,  "  that  in  that  case,  the 
body  of  Jesus  was  not  as  the  Church  understands,  a 
body  like  ours." 

Without  proceeding  further,  Servetus  expressed  the 
desire  that  he  might  be  allowed  the  books  which  were 
necessary  to  prove  his  assertions,  and  Calvin  con- 
sented to  leave  in  his  hands  some  of  the  volumes 
which  he  had  brought;  as  to  the  others,  it  was  re- 
solved to  cause  them  to  be  purchased  at  the  prisoner's 
expense,  either  in  Geneva  or  at  Lyons.  Servetus  had 
also  requested  them  to  grant  him  paper  and  ink,  to 
write  a  petition  to  the  Council.  This  request  was 
also  granted;  but  the  jailer  was  enjoined  to  give  him 
a  single  sheet  of  paper,  and  to  keep  him  "  very  close." 
Thus,  while  enabling  him  to  provide  for  his  defence, 
they  sought  to  hinder  him  from  holding  any  com- 
munication with  those  outside  the  prison.  Calvin, 
who  was  present  at  the  meeting,  was  certainly  not  a 
stranger  to  these  precautionary  measures.  They  prove 
that  the  prisoner  had  partisans  in  the  city,  whose  in- 
fluence and  counsels  the  Reformer  feared;  and  when 
Servetus  found  himself  thus  deprived  of  his  allies,  and 
obliged  to  stand  alone,  it  appears  that  for  the  time  he 
sought  safety  in  moderation. 

*  *' Confondus." 


1 28  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

In  the  meantime,  the  Council,  following  up  its  reso- 
lution to  obtain  evidence  to  establish  the  guilt  of  Ser- 
vetus,  caused  write  to  the  Judges  of  Yienne,  to  pro- 
cure from  them  the  particulars  of  the  charges  which 
had  led  to  his  detention  in  that  city — "  thinking,  and 
knowing  well,"  said  the  letter,  "  that  that  was  not 
without  cause,  and  that  you  have  evidence  and  in- 
formation against  him,  by  which  he  would  well  de- 
serve to  be  chastised.  Wherefore,  since  he  has  come 
into  our  hands,  we  ask  that  it  may  please  you  to 
communicate  to  us  a  copy  of  the  evidence,  and  infor- 
mation, and  summons  which  you  have  against  him,  to 
assist  us  in  following  out  his  trial  to  its  termination."* 

o 

*  The  following  is  the  letter  from  the  Council  of  Geneva  to  the 
magistrates  of  Vienne  on  the  subject  of  Servetus  : — 

"  Aux  nobles,  saiges,  spectables  et  magniffiques  Seigneurs  vybail- 
lyfz,  juges  et  aultres  gens  du  Roy  en  la  court  de  Vienne,  noz  bons 
voysins  et  bien  chiers  amys. 

"  Nobles,  sages,  spectables  et  magniffiques  Seigneurs,  nous  nous 
recommandons  de  bien  bon  coeur  a  voz  bonnes  graces. 

"  Magniffiques  Seigneurs,  nous  avons  en  noz  prisons  ung  nomme 
Michel  Servet,  duquel  nous  avons  entendu  quil  soyt  este  prys  et 
detenuz  par  vous  en  vostre  cite  de  Vienne  et  quil  sen  soyt  sorty  de 
prison  sans  dire  adieu  a  Ihoste,  mais  par  fracture;  et  combien  que 
le  trouvons  charge  et  attaint  de  crime  si  est  ce  que  nous  ne  pouvons 
bonnement  scavoir  de  luy  ni  daultre  de  pardeqa,  les  choses  pour  quoy 
il  fusse  par  devers  vous,  estroitement  detenus,  pensans  et  entendans 
bien  que  ce  ne  soit  pas  este  sans  cause,  et  que  ayez  contre  luy  indices 
et  informations  par  lesquelles  il  meritoit  bien  estre  chastie,  et  que 
sil  ne  se  fust  este  fuy  en  heussiez  bien  faict  le  debvoir.  Pourquoy 
puisquil  nous  est  venu  es  mains  desirans  a  iustice  et  a  luy  rendre 
notre  debvoir,  nous  avons  dresse  par  devers  vous  nostre  presente 
priere  par  nostre  serviteur,  pour  par  icelle  vous  prier  il  vous  plaise 
ainsin  comme  scavez  que  une  chacune  iustice  est  tenue  suffrager  a 
laultre  en  tel  cas,  nous  comrauniquer  doble  des  indices,  informations 


THE  ATTORNEY-GENERAL  PROSECUTES.  129 

The  messenger  of  State  who  carried  the  despatch, 
was  charged  to  bring  with  him  the  documents 
which  the  Syndics  and  Council  desired,  while  it 
appears  that  they  were  ignorant  that  sentence  of 
outlawry  had  been  pronounced  against  the  heretic 
at  Vienne. 

On  the  same  day  (Tuesday  the  22d  of  August)  on 
which  the  letter  of  the  Council  was  written,  Servetus 
prepared  in  his  prison  the  petition  which  he  had  ex- 
pressed his  wish  to  address  to  the  magistrates,  but  of 
which  they  did  not  take   cognizance   till  after   the 
meeting  held  in  the  bishops'  palace,  on  Wednesday 
the  23d.   It  was  at  the  latter  sitting  that  Claude  Rigot, 
the  Attorney-General,  presented  the  new  indictment 
which  he  had  prepared  since  he  began  to  take  part, 
as  public  prosecutor,  in  th«  discussions.     Its  title  ran 
thus:  "  These  are  the  interrogations  and  articles  upon 
which  the  Atto:ney-General  of  this  city  of  Geneva 
desires  to  question  Michael  Servetus,  a  prisoner,  guilty 
of  blasphemies,  of  heresies,  and  of  disturbing  Chris- 
tendom."    Rigot  did  not  take  part  in  person  at  the 
examination,  when  questions  to  the  number  of  thirty 
were  put,  in  terms  of  the  indictment,  by  N.  Chabod, 
of  the  Council  of  Sixty,  who   had  been  Sheriff  the 
previous  year,  and  who  occupied  at  that  meeting  the 
place  o   Lieutenant  P.  Tissot. 

•et  exploictz  que  vous  avez  centre  luy  pour  nous  ayder  a  suyvre  a 
la  vuydange  de  son  proces,  tout  ainsin  que  vouldriez  que  fissions 
pour  vous  en  tel  cas,  ce  que  vouldrions  bien  faire  voire  plus  grand, 
«n  mateur  (matiere)  ont  (ou)  seroit  en  nostre  pouvoir.  Cela  atten- 
•dans,  nous  prions  Dieu  il  luy  plaise  vous  donner  heureuse  prosperite 
destat.    De  Geneve  ce  22  daugst  1553." 

I 


130  CALVIN  AND  SERfETtJg. 

These  questions  diflfer  completely  from  thosef  which 
De  la  Fontaine  had  proposed.  Whilst  the  latter  re- 
lated almost  exclusively  to  the  theological  opinions  of 
Servetus,  and  his  offences  against  Calvin,  the  questions 
of  the  Attorney- General  referred  to  the  person  of  the 
author — to  his  previous  history — his  connection  with 
other  theologians — the  printing  of  his  book,  and  the 
fatal  consequences  that  must  follow  its  publication; 
and,  finally,  to  his  object  in  coming  to  Geneva,  and 
his  connections  in  that  city.  The  first  indictment 
had  particularized  the  guilt  of  Servetus;  the  second 
was  framed  so  as  to  generalize  it. 

The  details  concerning  his  doctrines  had  disappeared; 
his  charges  against  Calvin  were  no  more  mentioned  : 
the  theological  prosecution  gave  place  to  a  trial 
whose  tendency  bore  less  on  the  actual  heresy  of  the 
accused  than  on  the  dangerous  results  of  his  opinions, 
and  of  his  persisting  in  spreading  them.  The  horizon 
seemed  to  expand — men  left  the  sphere  of  the  schools 
to  enter  upon  that  of  society — Calvin  disappeared 
before  the  general  interests  of  the  Reformed  Churches. 
Whether  it  was  himself  that  had  wished  this,  or 
whether  they  passed  him  over  in  silence  without  asking 
his  opinion,  certain  it  is  that  his  personal  grievances 
were  no  longer  placed  in  the  first  rank  of  charges  in 
criminal  trials,  as  they  had  been  a  few  years  before. 
James  Gruet  and  Peter  Ameaulx  had  seen  their  sen- 
tence of  death  or  disgrace  in  a  great  measure  occa- 
sioned by  their  attacks  against  the  person  and  doc- 
trine of  M.  John  Calvin ;  in  the  public  prosecution 
and  condemnation  of  Servetus,  no  account  was  taken 


Calvin's  influence  discarded.  131 

of  his  altercations  with  the  Reformer — the  position 
of  the  latter  had  changed  too  much  for  any  offence 
against  him  to  be  reckoned  a  crime.  If  Servetus  had 
had,  in  the  eyes  of  Genevese  justice,  no  other  fault 
than  that  of  which  De  la  Fontaine  declared  him 
guilty  in  regard  to  Calvin,  his  acquittal  had  been 
sure.  The  Reformer  is  no  longer  confounded  with 
the  Reformation ;  and  if  he  alone  had  been  concerned 
in  the  affair  of  Servetus,  all  his  efforts  would  have 
been  unavailing  to  secure  the  condemnation  of  his 
adversary.^' 

Whether  Calvin  himself  held  this  opinion,  and  had, 
in  consequence,  withdrawn  from  the  discussion,  that 
it  might  succeed  the  better,  or  whether  they  set  aside 
what  concerned  him,  because  they  saw  it  would  serve 
no  useful  purpose  in  the  prosecution,  it  is  equally  true 
that  Servetus  was  tried,  and,  as  we  shall  mention 
below,  condemned,  by  the  majority  of  his  judges,  not 
at  all  as  the  opponent  of  Calvin  —  scarcely  as  an 
heretic — but  essentially  as  seditious.  Politics  acted  a 
much  more  important  part  than  theology,  towards  the 
close  of  his  trial — they  came  on  the  stage  with  the 
Attorney-General.  The  articles  drawn  up  by  him 
were  prepared  on  the  avowed  conviction,  that  Servetus 
had  always  been  a  fiery  and  dangerous  spirit,  whose 
constant  endeavours  had  tended  to  the  entire  disor- 

*  Such  are  the  sentiments  of  one  who  has  thoroughly  examined  the 
documentary  and  historical  evidence  of  this  melancholy  aflFair,  The 
dispassionate  will  easily  «ee  how  it  affects  the  position  of  Calvin,  in 
reference  to  the  trial  of  Servetus.  He  was,  in  fact,  no  party  to  it  in 
its  closing  and  more  painful  stages. — Tb. 


132  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

ganizing  of  Christendom.  This  is  what  they  hopedf 
to  deduce  from  the  answers  which  the  public  minister 
wished  to  draw  from  the  accused. 

But  Servetus  did  not  allow  himself  to  he  surprised, 
and  replied  to  the  questions  designed  to  convict  him, 
with  much  ingenuity,  ability,  and  apparent  frankness. 
In  our  day,  one  would  have  said  that  he  conducted 
the  affair  like  a  man  of  talent. 

After  having  described  the  events  of  his  past  life, 
he  had  to  repel  the  charges  brought  against  him  for 
having,  in  spite  of  the  warnings  of  doctors  pronounced 
against  his  first  book,  persevered  in  the  publication 
of  a  second,  which  was  only  a  reproduction  of  the 
other.  He  replied,  that  "  he  thought  he  would  offend 
God,  if  he  did  not  do  it,  and  that  he  had  published 
with  as  much  zeal  as  if  it  had  been  to  save  his  soul ; 
for  our  Lord  has  commanded  us  in  St  Matthew,  10th 
chapter,  that  what  has  been  revealed  to  us  in  secret 
should  not  be  concealed,  but  imparted  to  others ;  and 
has  also  said,  in  the  5th  chapter,  that  we  should  not 
put  the  light  which  He  has  given  us  under  a  bench 
or  stool,  but  in  a  place  where  it  might  enlighten 
others;  and  thus,  according  to  God  and  his  conscience, 
he  thought  he  had  accurate  y  followed  all  the  passages 
of  Holy  Scripture  which  speak  of  such  questions,  and 
also  the  chief  among  the  ancient  doctors  of  the  Church. 
He  wished  to  say  and  to  do  what  was  right,  and  still 
thinks  he  has  not  done  ill,  but  good,  with  an  upright 
intention,  as  our  Lord  says  in  the  5th  chapter  of  St 
Matthew :  '  If  the  eye  be  good,  the  whole  body  is 
full  of  light;  if  the  intention  be  good,  the  whole  deed 


EXPLANATIONS  BY  SERVETUS.  133 

will  be  reputed  good.'*  And  that  he  had  never  been 
seditious  or  turbulent,  but  had  acted  with  the  design 
of  aiding  the  good." 

He  added,  that  as  to  his  book,  he  was  far  from  re- 
gretting its  publication.    He  had  entitled  itChristian- 
ismi  Restitutio^  "  because  he  thought  to  restore  many- 
things  which  were  amiss ;  and  that  he  meant  by  that 
title,  the  restoration  of  the  doctrine  of  Christianity;" 
without  pretending,  however,  "  that  those  who  had 
written  before  him,  or  differently  from  his  book,  had 
jiot   understood   the  Christian   religion — while  they 
might  have  erred  in  some  respects,  especially  those 
of  them  who  had  written  after  the  Council  of  Nice." 
It  was  with  the  same  good  sense,  and  the  same 
moderation,  that  Servetus  replied  to  the  charge  which 
w^as  brought  against  him,  of  having  slandered  as  un- 
christian the  doctrine  of  the  Reformed  Churches,  and 
having  condemned  all  who  did  not  think  with  him, 
as  some  thought  was   apparent   from   his   letter  to 
M.  Abel  Popin.     He  replied,    "that  he  had  never 
thought  that  either  the  Churches  of  Geneva  or  of 
Germany  would  go   to   perdition  for  that,  but  that 
those  who  had  written  might  have  erred  upon  certain 
points;  for  the  epistle  produced  by  M.  Abel  contains 
scholastic  disputations,  in  which  one  uses  very  vehe- 
ment language,  the  better  to  persuade  his  opponent — 
not  that  he  believes,  for  all  that,  that  either  he  or  the 
others  would  be  condemned;  that  they  have  uttered 
many  greater  injuries  against  him,  in  terms  publicly 

*  It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  add  that  this  latitudinarian  senti- 
"■taect  is  not  that  of  the  Scripture. — Tb, 


134  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS, 

printed,  both  in  Latin  and  French ;  and  that  what 
he  had  written  to  the  said  Abel,  was  more  than  six 
years  ago,  while  he  had  written  it  only  to  discover 
the  truth,  not  to  publish  it,  nor  to  defame  him,  and 
still  less  the  Republic  of  Geneva,  and  other  cities 
and  Churches." 

What  he  did  not  disown  w^as,  having  thought 
"that  all  those  who  have  been  baptized  in  their  infancy 
in  these  and  other  Churches,  are  not  truly  baptized;" 
but  he  added,  "  that  if  he  be  wrong,  he  is  ready  to  be 
corrected ;  and  most  earnestly  asks  for  pardon."  His 
horror  at  the  baptism  of  children  was  never  dislodged 
from  his  mind. 

The  Indictment  sought  to  exhibit  Servetus  as  con- 
tentious, and,  at  all  hazards,  a  debauchee,  in  order  to 
find  in  his  want  of  chastity,  the  motive  "which 
urged  and  excited  him  to  treat  so  boldly  of  the  prin- 
cipal topics  and  essential  truths  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion"— a  deduction  this  which  is  abundantly  ex- 
travagant, for  the  theology  of  Servetus  had  little 
resemblance  to  the  pastimes  of  a  libertine.  The  Attor- 
ney-General, however,  could  not  understand  how  a 
heretic  could  be  anything  else  than  a  profligate.  Bossuet 
understood  it  better ;  and  as  his  words  appear  to  be 
perfectly  applicable  to  Servetus,  it  will  not  be  im- 
proper to  quote  them :  "  It  is  not  necessary  to  be- 
lieve," said  the  Bishop  of  Meaux,  "  that  heresies  have 
always  the  wicked  and  the  libertine  for  their  authors, 
who,  on  set  purpose,  make  religion  subservient  to  their 
passions.  St  Gregory  of  Naziazum  does  not  describe 
heresiarchs  ?is  men  without  religion,  but  as  men  who 


EXPLANATIONS  CONTINUED.  135 

Tiold  their  religion  awry.  '  They  are,'  he  says,  '  men  of 
capacious  mind;  for  feeble  souls  are  equally  useless  for 
good  or  for  ill.  But  these  powerful  minds,'  he  con- 
tinues, '  are  at  the  same  time  ardent  and  impetuous, 
who  hold  religion  with  ill-regulated  zeal;*  that  is  to 
say,  they  have  a  false  zeal,  '  and  mingling  a  haughty 
moroseness,  an  indomitable  boldness,  and  their  own 
peculiar  humours,  with  their  religion,  they  push  all 
to  extremity.*"*  These  three  last  traits  depict  Ser- 
vetus. 

But  he  could  with  truth  clear  himself  from  the 
charges  of  immorality  brought  against  him  by  the 
Attorney- General;  and  he  repelled  that  of  being 
quarrelsome,  by  giving  the  assurance  that  he  had  never 
been  engaged  in  any  quarrel,  except  in  a  single  case — 
in  lawful  self-defence.  As  to  the  charge  of  libertinage, 
he  declared  that  his  physical  constitution  did  not 
permit  of  his  exposing  himself  to  it ;  and  that  far  from 
"  not  having  zeal,  and  not  taking  care  to  live  purely 
like  a  true  Christian,"  he  ha<l  been  "  studious  of  the 
Holy  Scripture,  having  a  zeal  for  the  truth,  while  he 
thought  he  had  lived  as  a  true  Christian  should  do." 

The  same  simplicity,  if  not  the  same  candour,  is 
found  in  the  answer  given  to  the  question  which  was 
put  "  if  he  did  not  know  well  that  his  book  and  doc- 
trine would  throw  Christendom  into  great  commotion." 
To  this  he  replied,  that  he  did  not  think  his  book 
would  disturb  the  peace  of  Christendom,  but  would 
be  profitable  to  it — as  it  would  give  occasion  to  re- 
flective men  to  speak  their  sentiments  more  plainly, 

*  Histoire  des  Variations,  V.  1. 


13^6  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

and  thus  the  truth  which  had  begun  to  be  exhibited 
by  a  few,  would  be  disseminated  among  all.  Servetus 
was  then  in  the  humour  of  great  moderation;  and  no- 
thing was  more  modest  or  more  wise  than  his  man- 
ner of  describincr  his  work.  It  is  true  that  he  was 
thus  in  direct  contradiction  with  its  contents;  for  it 
was  nothing  but  a  declaration  of  war  against  all  the 
Churches  of  Christendom — in  it  the  author  manifests 
as  much  impatience  and  violence  as  he  here  exhibits 
gentleness  and  time-serving.  Servetus  attenuates  as 
much  as  he  could  his  own  intentions  and  the  aim  of 
his  production,  in  the  hope  of  soothing  his  judges; 
and  it  is  for  the  same  purpose  that  he  barters  away 
his  reputation,  declaring  that  he  knew  no  one  who 
adhered  to  his  doctrine — an  assertion  which  was 
certainly  untrue. 

It  was,  in  like  manner,  very  natural  for  Servetus 
to  deny  having  come  to  Geneva,  as  he  was  accused 
of  having  done,  "  there  to  disseminate  his  doctrines, 
and  trouble  that  Church  ;"  for  he  durst  not  allow 
that  such  was  his  design  in  coming,  and  behoved  to 
allege  another  reason  remote  from  the  spirit  of  prose- 
lytism.  He  therefore  declared  that  Geneva  lay  on 
the  route  which  he  wished  to  take  in  proceeding 
to  Naples  by  Zurich ;  adding  that  he  knew  no  person 
there,  and  had  not  been  in  connection  with  any  one 
whatever.* 

*  However  much  we  may  deplore  the  death  of  Servetus,  we  can- 
not but  condemn  the  frequent  and  deliberate  falsehoods  of  which  he 
was  guilty.  Certain  it  is,  that  the  religion  of  Him  who  is  Ttui 
Truth  had  not  obtained  the  control  of  his  mind.— Tb. 


THE  POLICY  OF  SERVETUS.  137 

In  this  examination,  more  than  in  any  of  the  pre- 
ceding, Servetus,  as  we  have  seen,  tries  to  render 
himself  insignificant — to  divest  his  person  and  his  con- 
duct of  all  importance  by  reducing  each  to  moderate 
proportions.  That  was  a  means,  if  not  of  diminish- 
ing his  theological  guilt,  at  least  of  considerably  less- 
ening in  the  eyes  of  his  judges  the  disturbing  results 
of  his  doctrines,  and  rendering  them,  consequently, 
more  disposed  to  treat  with  indulgence  an  error  which 
scarcely  extended  itself,  in  any  degree,  further  than 
the  mind  that  had  produced  it.  Servetus  well  un- 
derstood, that  if  he  could  free  himself  from  the  sus- 
picion of  being  a  man  of  bad  repute,  and  dangerous 
to  the  public  tranquillity,  his  doctrine,  by  itself,  would 
not  form  a  sufiicient  motive  for  condemning  him,  or 
at  least  would  not  draw  down  a  very  severe  castiga- 
tion.* 

It  would  appear,  from  the  urgency  of  the  Attorney- 
General's  reply  to  the  defence  of  the  accused,  that 
though  more  ingenious  than  truthful,  that  defence 
had  not  failed  to  produce  a  certain  impression  upon 
the  judges;  and  it  is  probable,  for  the  same  reason, 
that  this  impression  was  strengthened  by  the  reading 
of  the  petition  of  which  we  have  already  spoken,  and 
which  was  communicated  to  the  Council  the  day  after 
the  inquiry — Thursday,  the  24th  of  August. 

*  The  reader  "will  here  notice  again  "what  was  the  view  of  this 
case  which  really  led  to  this  prosecution  by  the  Attorney-General 
and  Magistrates  of  Geneva.  Politics,  rather  than  theology — the 
public  peace,  rather  than  sound  doctrine — appeared  to  them  to  de- 
mand the  punishment  of  Servetus. — Tr. 


1 38  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

That  petition  is,  like  the  answers  of  Servetus,  clear 
and  temperate;  but  it  is  much  more  strong  and  pun- 
gent in  its  reasoning.  It  turns  upon  two  points :  the  first 
is,  that  "  he  should  be  freed  from  the  criminal  charge;" 
the  second,  that  if  this  liberation  be  refused,  he  should 
be  allowed  the  aid  of  an  Advocate  who  knew  the  laws 
and  procedure  of  the  country.  In  support  of  his  first 
request,  the  petitioner  alleged  "  that  it  is  a  new  in- 
vention, unknown  to  the  apostles  and  disciples  of  the 
ancient  Church,  to  accuse  a  party  for  the  doctrines  of 
Scripture,  or  inquiries  derived  from  them ;"  and  he 
confirmed  his  remark  both  by  reciting  the  contents  of 
Acts  xviii.  and  xix.,  and  by  the  conduct  of  Constan- 
tine  towards  Arius;  from  which  he  concluded,  that  in 
the  first  ages  of  the  Christian  Church,  it  had  been 
resolved  that  all  questions  of  heresy  "  should  be  de- 
cided by  the  Churches,  and  that  he  who  should  be 
convicted  or  condemned  by  them,  if  he  would  not 
return  by  repentance,  should  be  banished;  which 
punishment  has  always  been  in  force  against  heretics 
in  the  ancient  Church." 

This  position  was  not  assumed  by  Servetus  to  serve 
a  purpose,  for  it  is  found  word  for  word  in  his  letters 
to  Calvin,  when  he  treats  of  punishment  in  matters 
civil  and  religious,*  The  risk  of  encountering  capital 
punishment  made  him  regard  it  as  good  fortune  to 
escape  from  the  afi^air  at  the  expense  of  banishment ; 
and  he  was  not  alone  in  being  well  satisfied  with  the 
choice  of  that  punishment. 

To  the  historical  argument  derived  from  the  prac- 

*  See  Christianisini  Restitutio^  xxvii.  Epist.  ad  Calv.^  p.  656. 


SERVETUS  PETITIONS  THE  COUNCIL.  139 

tice  of  the  ancient  Church,  upon  the  model  of  which 
the  Reformation  professed  to  be  built,  Servetus  added 
another  perfectly  reasonable,  but  which  unhappily 
was  not  more  effectual  than  the  preceding.  He  said : 
"  Secondly,  my  Lords,  the  petitioner  beseeches  you  to 
consider  that  he  has  not  offended  either  in  your  terri- 
tories or  elsewhere — he  has  not  been  either  seditious  or 
turbulent;  for  the  questions  of  which  he  treats  are 
abstruse,  and  addressed  only  to  the  learned ;  and  that 
all  the  time  he  was  in  Germany  he  had  never  spoken 
on  these  questions,  except  to  (Ecolampadius,  Bucer, 
and  Capito.  In  France,  moreover,  he  never  spoke 
to  a  soul;  and  further  still,  the  Anabaptists,  who  rebel 
against  magistrates,  and  wish  to  have  all  things  in 
common,  he  has  ever  refuted  and  reproved.  From 
which  he  concludes,  that  he  ought  not  to  be  detained 
on  a  criminal  charge,  for  having,  without  any  sedition, 
put  prominently  forward  certain  questions  of  the 
ancient  doctors  of  the  Church."  * 

Here,  as  in  his  examination,  Servetus  struggles  to 
explain  away  the  charge  which  would  have  rendered 
him  truly  culpable  in  the  eyes  of  his  judges — that  of 
being  a  promoter  of  dispeace.  He  tries  to  keep  the 
question  in  a  purely  speculative  region ;  and  there  can 
be  no  doubt,  that  had  he  been  able  to  make  it  appear 
to  be  divested  of  all  practical  results,  the  issue  of  his 

*  We  have  here  another  opportunity  of  ascertaining  the  view 
icTiich  Servetv^  himself  noyf  took  of  his  trial.  His  petition  is  ad- 
dressed to  magistrates,  as  magistrates;  for  he  saw  and  felt  that  it 
was  on  the  ground  of  policy,  and  not  of  simple  heresy,  that  he  waa 
now  prosecuted. — Tr. 


140  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

trial  would  not  have  been  fatal.  In  the  meantime, 
his  petition  did  not  draw  forth  any  answer  from  the 
Council,  which  contented  itself  with  resolving  that 
the  prisoner  "  be  held  to  his  replies — to  proceed 
with  the  trial,  and  that  his  petition  be  therein  inserted." 
Meanwhile,  the  general  dispositions  of  men's  minds 
in  Geneva,  and  the  sentiments  which  Calvin  inspired, 
did  not  allow  the  imprisonment  and  trial  of  Servetus 
to  leave  public  opinion  in  a  state  of  indifference.  It  was 
like  a  new  aliment  supplied  to  passions  already  keenly 
excited;  it  was  an  occasion  of  fear  to  some,  of  hope 
to  others,  and  of  interest  to  all.  From  what  we  know 
of  the  circumstances  of  the  Republic,  the  adversaries 
of  Calvin  were  obliged,  in  order  to  counterbalance  his 
interference  in  the  trial,  and  derive  advantage  from  it 
to  themselves,  to  endeavour  to  awaken  the  public 
sympathy  and  commiseration  in  favour  of  Servetus. 
Calvin,  on  the  other  hand,  sought  to  defend  himself, 
and  guide  opinion  back  to  its  former  channel.  He  em- 
ployed the  means  which  his  office  placed  within  his 
reach,  and  from  the  pulpit  exposed  the  errors  of  Ser- 
vetus before  a  numerous  auditory,  carefully  bringing 
out  his  impiety  and  his  blasphemies,  scattering  all  the 
excuses  with  which  men  tried  to  conceal  his  crime,  and 
condemning  the  compassion  with  which  they  were 
pleased  to  regard  him.*     This  sermon,   which  was 

*  See  Contra  Lihellum  Calvini^  39.  "  Quodam  die  dominico, 
frequentissima  concione,  Serveti,  qui  turn  recens  erat  in  carcere, 
opiniones  populo  exposuit,  et  copiose  tractavit  (Calvinus)."  [The 
reader  will  here  be  reminded  of  similar  scenes  in  our  own  country, 
when  Knox,  and  Bruce,  and  Welsh,  and  Simson,  and  others  assailed 
in  the  pulpit  the  errors  of  the  day,  because,  it  was  then  the  sole 


ANOTHER  INDICTMENT.  141 

probably  delivered  on  the  Lord's-day,  27th  of  August, 
testifies  also  that  the  Reformer  required  to  employ  all 
the  resources  of  his  influence  to  neutralize  the  efibrts 
of  his  adversaries,  and  destroy  the  public  interest 
which  Avould  have  attached  to  the  person  of  Servetus. 

It  was  with  the  same  design  that  the  Attorney- 
General,  Rigot  (or  perhaps  under  his  name,  Calvin 
himself,  as  Servetus  pretends)  prepafed  a  second 
indictment  against  the  accused,  designed  to  weaken  in 
the  minds  of  the  judges  the  impression  which  his 
answers  must  have  produced  on  them.  This  docu- 
ment consists  of  two  separate  parts.  The  first  em- 
braces the  refutation  of  the  arguments  contained  in 
the  petition  of  Servetus,  and  establishes  the  fact,  that 
the  first  Christian  emperors  claimed  for  themselves  the 
cognizance  and  trial  of  heresies,  and  that  their  laws 
and  constitutions  pronounced  the  pain  of  death  against 
**  those  who  thought  erroneously  of  the  faith  regard- 
ing the  Trinity,"  and  against  blasphemers. 

The  Attorney- General  observed  that  Servetus,  who 
had  studied  law  at  Toulouse,  could  not  be  ignorant 
of  the  existence  of  these  laws  and  constitutions,  but 
that  he  wished  to  deprive  magistrates  of  the  right  of 
punishing  heretics, because  "his  conscience  condemned 
him,  and  proved  him  worthy  of  death ;  and  to  escape 
from  that,  he  wished,  by  advancing  a  doctrine  so  false, 
to  prevent  the  capital  punishment  of  the  guilty." 
It  was,  further,  with  the  design  of  not  appearing  guilty 
of  the  error  "of  the  Anabaptists,  who  rebel  against 

instrument  of  informing  the  public  mind,  and  creating  or  guiding 
public  opinion. — Tr.] 


142  CALVIN  AND  SERVETIJS. 

magistrates,"  that  Servetus  pretends  in  his  petition 
that  he  has  refuted  their  doctrine;  "but  he  could  not 
show  a  single  passage  (said  the  Attorney- General) 
■where  he  has  done  so."  That  is  possible — but  it 
is  not  the  less  true,  that  the  charge  against  Servetus 
of  being  hostile  to  the  powers  that  be  is  unjust;  for 
he,  on  the  contrary,  proves  in  his  book  the  necessity 
of  their  appointment,  and  the  obligation  to  obey 
them.* 

As  to  his  allegation  that  he  had  not  communicated 
his  doctrine  to  any  one,  that  is,  continues  the  charge, 
"an  evident  untruth;  for  he  himself  has  said,  under 
the  tenth  question,  that  he  would  reckon  it  an  offence 
against  God  if  he  had  concealed,  and  not  communi- 
cated to  others,  what  God  had  revealed  to  him.    How 
could  any  one  believe  that  he  had  not  spoken  to  a 
single  person  during  the  thirty  years  that  had  elapsed 
since  he  commenced  to  discuss  and  print  his  horrible 
heresies?     Consider  also,  his  age  of  twenty  when  he 
began,  at  which  period  the  young  are  not  on  their 
guard   against  communicating  to   their   companions 
what  they  know  and  study.     By  this  one  may  easily 
judge  with  what  kind  of  conscience  the  said  Servetus 
has  attempted  in  his  answers  to  pervert  justice,  and 
whether  he  has  repented   of  his  horrible  misdeeds; 
for  in  some  replies  he  says  that  he  offers  to  be  corrected, 
and  cries  'mercy:'  and  afterwards,   in   many  other 
places,   he   is  confident,   and  audaciously  maintains 
that  he  has  never  spoken  or  acted  amiss." 

From  the  keenness  of  these  passages,  one  perceives 
*  Christianismi  Restitutio,  pp.  433,  655. 


THE  AID  OF  COtJNSEL  REPUSEt).  143 

that  the  charge  was  not  to  be  abandoned:  on  the  con- 
trary, it  was  to  become  more  vigorous  and  urgent.  It 
now  crushes  the  defences,  tears  away  the  mask,  and  lets 
Servetus  see,  for  the  first  time,  at  the  termination  of 
the  process,  the  prospect  of  the  worst  kind  of  punish- 
ment. Whether  it  was  because  Calvin  had  exercised 
some  influence  over  the  Attorney-General,  who 
appears  to  have  been  of  his  party,*  or  because  that 
magistrate,  once  engaged  in  the  pursuit,  thought  it 
his  duty  to  persevere  therein  with  vigour,  one  sees 
that  he  is  beforehand  perfectly  convinced  of  the  guilt 
of  the  accused.  He  regards  him  as  already  condemned, 
and  rejects  with  indignation  the  demand  which  he 
made  for  an  advocate  to  aid  him.  This  refusal, 
authorized  by  the  criminal  Edicts,t  does  not  the  less 
betray  the  irritation  and  the  fears  which  the  able  tactics 
of  Servetus  had  occasioned,  "/ifem,"  says  the  docu- 
ment, "seeing  that  he  knows  so  well  how  to  lie,  there 
is  no  need  that  he  should  ask  a  procurator;  for  who 
is  there  that  could  or  would  aid  him  in  such  impudent 
falsehoods  and  horrible  purposes  ?  Add  to  this,  that 
it  is  forbidden  by  law,  and  was  never  seen  that  such 
seducers  spoke  by  counsel,  and  the  interposition  of  an 
attorney.  And  yet  more;  there  is  not  one  jot  of 
apparent  innocence  which  requires  an  attorney;  where- 
fore he  ought  to  be  instantly  denied  such  a  request,  as 

*  Rilliet  speaks  conjechirally,  uot  historically,  here. — Tr. 

•f*  "Si  le  criminel  demande  destre  admis  a  ses  justifications,  que 
le  Conseil  regarde  sil  est  de  raison  ou  non." — Ordonnances  de  1543. 
[Legal  and  authorized  as  the  denial  of  an  advocate  to  Servetus  was, 
it  forms,  according  to  our  views  of  equity  in  such  cases,  one  of  th* 
worst  features  of  this  painful  trial. — Tr,] 


144<  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

inept  and  impertinent,  and  to  reply  pertinently  to  the 
following  articles." 

These  articles,  which  formed  the  second  part  of  the 
indictment,  w-ere  produced  at  the  meeting  by  the 
Lieutenant,  Tissot,  who  "  required  that  upon  them  the 
said  Servetus  should  be  interrogated,  and  answer  Yes, 
or  No."  They  asked,  first,  how  he  would  establish  the 
truth  of  the  facts  alleged  in  his  petition,  regarding 
the  punishment  of  heretics  in  the  ancient  Church." 
"By  the  histories,"  he  replied,  "which  have  spoken  of 
Constantine  the  Great." 

He  was  next  accused  of  having  calumniated  "some 

teachers  of  the  Word  of  God,  by  charging  them  with 

blasphemies  and  heresy,"  which  was,  on  his  part,  they 

said,  a  capital  crime.     While  perfectly  agreeing  that 

the  calumny  well  deserved  that  character,  Servetus 

maintained  that,  "in  matters  of  disputation,"  it  had 

become  common  to  condemn  one's  opponents,  without 

being,  on  that  account,  treated  as  a  defamer.     Being 

examined  regarding  his  connection  with  Capito  and 

CEcolampadius,  who,  he  alleged,  agreed  with  him  in 

opinion,  though  he  should  have  known  that  they  were 

"doctors  approved  by  well-reformed  Churches,"  he 

replied  that  that  approbation  was  not  general,  and 

that  Luth       and  Melancthon  had   "written  against 

CEcolampadius  on  the  subject  of  the  sacrament  and 

free  will" — an  adroit  allusion  to  the  divergencies  of  the 

Reformers  by  which  he  might  justify  his  own.     As  to 

the  adherence  of  the  two  theologians  to  his  doctrine, 

he  maintained,   and  apparently  with   reason,*   that 

*  Compare  Rcehrich.  Geschichte  der  Reformation,  in  Elsass,  ii., 
S.77. 


ACCUSATIONS  AND  DEFENCES.         145 

Capito  did  adhere,  "  without  having  the  power,"  said 
Servetus,  "to  prove  it,  inasmuch  as  he  spoke  with  him 
in  private,  without  any  other  witness  but  God;"  but 
he  granted  that  CEcolampadius  had  withdrawn  his 
assent. 

It  was  said  in  answer,  that  in  his  studies  of  law, 
he  must  have  acquired  the  knowledge  of  the  Justinian 
Code,  and,  among  other  things,  of  the  Titles  De  Sum- 
ma  Trinilate.,  De  Caiholica  Fide^  De  Hmvetic.is^  and 
De  Apostatis,  where  those  are  condemned  who  hold 
opinions  like  his.     Servetus  replied,  that  he  had  only 
read  in  that  book  "some  rubrics  here  and  there;  that 
he  also  studied  it  at  school ;  but  that  for  twenty-four 
years  he  had  not  seen  it."     Besides,  added  he,  "Jus- 
tinian did  not  belong  to  the  times  of  the  primitive 
and  ancient  Church ;  but  in  his  day  many  things  had 
become  corrupted,    while   the   bishops   had   already 
commenced   their    tyranny,    and    were    introducing 
criminal  prosecutions  into  the  Church" — an  able  and 
pertinent  reply,  by  which  the   accused  brought  ex- 
pertly out  the  contrast  between  the  pretended  return 
of  the  Reformation  to  the  practices  of  ancient  Christi- 
anity, and  the  appeal  to  an  ecclesiastical  legislation 
begun  during  the  epoch  whence  the  Reformed  dated 
the  corruption  of  the  Church. 

He  exhibited  neither  less  composure  nor  less  expert- 
ness  in  his  reply  to  the  objection  which  was  offered  as 
to  his  being  self-contradictory,  in  first  confessing  that 
"  he  would  have  offended  God  by  concealing,  and  not 
imparting  to  others,  the  doctrine  which  had  been  re- 
vealed to  him,"  while  yet  he  declared  "that  he  had 


14^  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

abstained  from  speaking  of  it,  except  to  three  doctors 
■whom  he  named."  "I  did  so,"  replied  Servetus, 
"because  our  Saviour  has  commanded  us  not  to  throw 
pearls  before  swine.  Besides,  I  did  not  wish  to  put 
forth  the  doctrine  among  weak  people,  nor  among  the 
Papists,  where  there  is  great  cruelty  and  persecution" 
— a  skilful  insinuation  as  to  the  difference  which  ought 
to  exist  in  this  last  respect  between  the  Romanists 
and  their  opponents,  for  Servetus  did  not  fail  to  per- 
ceive that  his  life  was  there  concerned;  and  this  is 
one  trait  more  w^hich  exhibits  him,  through  all  this 
stage  of  his  trial,  as  giving  proof  of  an  ingenious 
mind,  and  as  completely  master  of  himself. 

The  public  functionary — and  this  was  not  without 
a  motive — wished  to  show  that  the  accused  had  held  in- 
tercourse by  letters  with  Italy,  where  his  doctrines  then 
reckoned  numerous  partisans,  and  of  which  Servetus 
could  neither  be  ignorant  nor  neglectful.  But  as  this 
allegation  of  the  Attorney- General  was  not  supported 
by  any  actual  proof,  it  w^as  easy  for  the  prisoner  to 
reply  by  a  simple  denial,  which  he  knew  how  to 
strengthen  by  asserting  that  his  only  correspondents 
had  been  Calvin,  the  pastor  Abel  Popin,  and  Peter 
Viret.  As  these,  moreover,  were  the  only  parties  who 
could  communicate  to  the  tribunal  any  of  his  letters, 
this  avowal  could  not  compromise  him,  while  it 
proved  the  sincerity  of  his  averments. 

Numerous  questions  were  next  addressed  to  him, 
regarding  the  printing  of  his  book  at  Vienne,  and  his 
connection  with  the  printer  Arnoullet,  and  the  cor- 
rector, William  Gueroult.    Servetus  replied  evasively. 


Disingenuous  replies  by  the  prisoner.     147 

Contradicting  the  confidential  letter  of  Arnoullet, 
and  the  answers  which  he  himself  had  given  at  the 
commencement  of  the  trial,  he  protested  that  he  had 
never  had  any  connection,  even  indirectly,  with  Gue- 
roult  on  the  subject  of  his  work.  Upon  this  point 
the  accused  evidently  belied  the  truth;  for  it  was 
manifest,  from  the  explanations  given  by  the  printer, 
and  the  part  acted  by  Gueroult  in  the  printing-house, 
that  the  latter  must  have  been  in  habitual  connection 
■with  the  author.  The  perseverance  of  Servetus  in 
denying  that  fact  distinctly  proves  its  reality;  and  his 
conduct  cannot  be  explained,  except  by  the  fear  which 
he  felt  lest  they  should  establish  between  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Genevese  corrector  and  his  own  subse- 
quent visit  to  Geneva  an  agreement  which  might  dis- 
close the  motive  of  his  coming.* 

He  repelled  with  greater  success  the  charge  of  de- 
bauchery, of  which  they  were  unwilling  to  hold  him 
acquitted,  and  in  support  of  which  they  quoted  some 
light  expressions  of  Servetus.f 

Passing  to  a  question  of  a  very  different  kind,  the 
charge  received  an  answer  which  was  not  less  to  the 
purpose.  What  do  you  mean,  he  was  asked,  "  by 
saying  that  the  truth  begins  to  manifest  itself,  and 

*  This  obvious  falsehood  of  Servetus  tends  to  lessen  the  sympathy 
■which  his  trial  occasions,  inasmuch  as  it  shows  that  he  had  a  design 
in  visiting  Geneva  which  he  would  not  avow — no  doubt  the  spread- 
ing of  his  opinions.  Rilliet  is  clearly  of  that  mind;  so  that  the 
falsehood  persisted  in  gives  reason  to  fear  that  on  other  points  also 
Servetus  was  not  guided  by  the  truth. — Tr. 

+  "  Ou  citait  je  ne  sais  quel  propos  leger  qu'il  aurait  tenu  sur  ses 
bonnes  fortunes."  [His  reply  partook  of  the  same  character. — Tr.] 


148  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

win  spread  more  and  more  ?"  Do  you  intend  by  that 
to  say,  that  your  "  doctrine  Arill  be  received,  and 
that  it  is  a  doctrine  of  truth  ? "  I  mean,  said  Ser- 
vetus,  to  speak  of  the  progress  of  Reform,  as  when 
the  truth  "  began  to  be  declared  in  the  time  of  Luther, 
and  has  spread  even  till  now."  This  explanation 
afforded  no  handle  to  the  critic;  but  Servetus  added, 
that  the  onward  march  of  the  Reformation  had  not 
reached  its  termination,  and  that  "it  will  manifest 
itself  still  further  concerning  some  things  which  he 
supposed  to  be  not  yet  accurately  explained."  This 
assertion  sounded  worse  in  the  ears  of  those  who  were 
bound  to  reckon  the  Reformation  perfectly  complete; 
and  he  was  therefore  asked  to  what  he  then  referred. 
If  he  had  dared  to  be  sincere,  he  would  have  frankly 
opposed  his  own  doctrine  to  orthodoxy,  as  being  the 
truth  at  which  Reform  would  by  degrees  arrive;  but 
he  did  not  feel  himself  sufficiently  strong  to  avow  his 
conviction  without  evasion,  and  he  threw  himself 
upon  accessory  questions,  offering  to  explain  them  by 
the  Bible,  or  by  the  fathers  of  the  Church,  better 
than  he  had  done  in  his  book,  if  they  would  open  up 
for  him  a  conference  with  the  learned. 

At  the  same  time,  even  while  refusing  openly  to 
avow  his  opinion  as  to  the  success  of  his  doctrine, 
Servetus  did  not  deny  it.  He  declared  "  that  he 
could  not  divine  whether  his  doctrine  would  be  re- 
ceived or  not,  but  that  he  must  hold  it  to  be  truth  till 
they  showed  him  the  contrary."  Then  exhibiting  in 
a  glimpse,  without  insisting  on  the  foundation  of  his 
hopes,  he  adds  with  address,  "  that  at  the  commence- 


PARADOXICAL  TENETS  OF  SERVETUS.  149 

meat  things  are  rejected  which  are  afterwards  re- 
ceived." The  Reforms  of  Luther  and  Calvin  have 
completely  triumphed  over  the  sentences  of  condem- 
nation which  awaited  their  first  promulgation.  Why 
should  not  mine  also  emerge  ?— Behold  the  mind  of 
Servetus,  concealed  through  policy,  but  indicated  by 

implication ! 

He  found  greater  difficulty  in  justifying  himself  re- 
garding his  very  strange  opinion  that  the  young,  under 
twenty  years  of  age,  are  not  subject  to  sin,  nor  liable  to 
any  punishment— a  doctrine  which,  according  to  the 
libel,  would  have  the  necessary  effect  of  relaxing  the 
morals  of  youth.     Servetus  referred  to  his  book,  and 
without  explaining  himself  categorically  as   to   the 
foundation  of  this  paradox,  he  declared  that  he  had 
never  meant  to  speak  of  anythmg  but  exemption  from 
capital  punishment,  and  not  at  all  of  the  suppression 
of  judicial  prosecutions,  of  chastisements  "  like  the 
whip,  the  galleys,  the  prison,  and  other  kinds." 

Assailed  as  to  the  use  which  he  had  made  of  the 
Koran,  he  replied  that  he  had  cited  it  for  the  greater 
"glory  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  because  the  said 
Koran  abounds  in  what  is  good ;"  and  that  even  though 
that  book  be  bad,  he  might  employ  the  good  which  it 
contained;  "for  in  a  wicked  book  one  might  find 
-some  good  things."   The  charge  was,  in  truth,  absurd, 
and  the  answer  was  nothing  more  than  just. — The 
examination  closed  with  a  question  relative  to  a  so- 
journ  which   Servetus    had    made   in    Italy   before 
coming  to  Geneva,  which  he  formally  denied;  and 
another  concerning  the  circumstances  of  his  arrival, 


150  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

for  which  he  referred  to  the  testimony  of  the  landlord 
of  the  Rose.     The  meeting  then  adjourned. 

Three  days  thereafter,  Thursday,  31st  of  August, 
the  Little  Council  received  an  answer  to  the  letter 
which  it  had  addressed  on  the  22d  to  the  Court  of 
Vienne.  The  president  and  attorney  of  that  district 
informed  the  Council,  that  it  was  not  possible  to  grant 
its  request  as  to  communicating  the  papers  in  the 
process  instituted  at  Yienne  against  Servetus,  because, 
as  that  trial  had  terminated  by  a  sentence  of  con- 
demnation, they  could  "  not  concede  or  consent  that 
another  judgment  should  be  passed,"  under  pain  of 
incurring  the  displeasure  of  the  king.  They  con- 
tented themselves,  therefore,  with  transmitting  to  the 
Syndics  and  Council  a  copy  of  the  sentence  of  death 
pronounced  against  M.  Servetus,*  under  the  name  of 
Villeneuve;  and  in  their  turn  requested  that  the 
prisoner  might  be  sent  back  to  them,  "  to  inflict  the 
said  sentence,  the  execution  of  which  would  punish 
him  in  such  a  way  that  there  would  be  no  need  to  seek 
other  charges  against  him."  In  the  expectation  that 
the  surrender  of  Servetus  would  be  conceded,  the 
magistrate  and  attorney  had  charged  the  officer  or 
governor  of  the  royal  palace  of  Yienne,  to  whom  they 
had  given  credentials,  to  reconduct  him  to  that  city. 

A  report  upon  these  different  points  was  made  to  the 
Council,  which  resolved,  in  reference  to  the  remit- 
ting of  Servetus,  to  cause  WTite  "a  gracious  letter,  inti- 
mating that  they  could  not  give  him  up,  but  would  do 
ful  1  justice  upon  him."     We  see  here  that  the  tribunal 

*  See  this  Sentence,  Appendix,  D. 


MOTIVES  OF  THE  COUNCIL.  151 

of  Geneva  was  provoked  to  emulation,  and  wished, 
at  the  very  least,  to  have  the  appearance  of  under- 
standing its  business  as  well  as  others,  without,  how- 
ever, pledging  itself  as  to  the  final  decision.* 

*  The  follo^ving  is  the  application  from  Yienne  regarding  Ser- 
vetus: — 

"A  Nobles,  Saiges,  Spectables,  et  illustres  Seigneurs  les  Scin- 
dicques  et  Conseil  de  Geneve,  a  Geneve. 

"  Messeigneurs,  le  jour  dhier  environ  une  heure  appres  midy,  nous 
receumes  les  lettres  quil  vous  a  pleu  nous  rescripre  contenants  ad- 
vertissement  de  la  prinse  et  detention  de  M.^  Michiel  Servet  diet  de 
Villeneufve  en  voz  prisons,  duquel  advertissement  nous  vous  mer- 
cions  bien  fort.  Et  a  ceste  cause,  oultre  la  presente  lettre  laquelle 
nous  avons  bien  voulu  delivrer  avostre  messagier,  nous  vous  envoyons 
le  viguier  et  cappiteyne  du  pallaix  royal  de  Vienne,  avec  nos  lettres 
patentes,  et  le  double  de  la  sentence,  en  dernier  ressort  contre  ledict 
de  Villeneufve  donee,  pour  vous  supplier  bien  humblement  que, 
attendu  quil  estoit  habitant  du  pays  du  Roy,  et  que  les  crimes  pour 
lesquelz  il  a  este  condamne  ont  este  commis  dans  lesdictz  pays  du 
Roy,  et  quil  seroit  evade  de  nos  prisons  et  par  ainsi  encores  notre 
prisonnier,  votre  bon  plaisir  soit  le  nous  rendre  pour  exequuter 
ladicte  sentence,  lexequution  de  laquelle  le  chastiera  de  sorte  quil 
ne  sera  besoing  chercher  aultres  charges  contre  luy.  Et  quant  a  ce 
quil  vous  plaist  nous  rescripre  de  vous  envoyer  la  copie  dudict 
proces  pour  proceder  par  dela  contre  luy,  attendu  ladicte  sentence, 
de  laquelle  nous  croyons  bien  que  ayez  este  iusques  ici  ignorans, 
nous  vous  supplions  de  nous  excuser,  veu  que  sur  nosdictes  actes  et 
procedures  ne  pouvons  permettre  ou  consentir  que  aultre  jugement 
sen  face,  et  si  aultrement  y  consentions  en  serious  reprins  par  le  roy 
auquel,  comme  sommes  asseures,  feres  plaisir  tres  agreable  en 
anvoyant  ledict  Villeneufve  monstrer  que  vous  entendez  que  les 
iugements  de  ses  magistrats  sortent  leur  effect,  comme  vous  vous 
vouldries  en  cas  pareil  vos  iugements  estre  exequut^s.  Et  de  re- 
chief,  messeigneurs,  par  ceste  presente  nous  vous  prions  bien  fort 
vouloir  ouyr  ledict  Viguier,  et  nous  accorder  ce  que  une  iustice 
doibt  accorder  a  Tautre.  Et  ou,  messeigneurs,  nous  aurons  le 
moyen  en  tel  cas,  ou  plus  grand,  vous  rendre  le  semblable,  nous  le 
ferons  si  voluntiers  et  d'aussi  bon  cueur  comme  nous  presentons  nos 


152  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

Further:  the  refusal  to  surrender  the  prisoner  was 
agreeable  to  the  precedents  of  the  Council,  as  we  may 
be  convinced  by  reading  its  registers,  where  analogous 
cases  are  often  found.  Thus,  three  years  before  the 
period  to  which  our  attention  is  now  turned  (18th  of 
April,  1550),  this  answer  was  given  to  the  King  of 

humbles  recommandations  a  vos  bonnes  graces;  et  prions  le  Crea- 

teur  vous  avoir  en  saincte  garde.     De  Vienne,  ce  samedi  au  seoir 

vingt  sixiesme  daoust  1553. 

"  Nous  navons  pen  plustost  despecher  le  present  pourteur  pour 

labsence  de  nous  vibailly.  ^ 

"  Vos  bons  voisins,  freres  et  amys,  les  vibailly 

et  procureur  du  roy  au  siege  de  Vienne. 

"  Par  commandement  de  mesdicts  seigneurs 

les  vibailly  et  procureur. 

"Chasalis,  grefEer." 

The  following  is  the  reply  from  Geneva,  addressed — "  A  Vienne. 

"  Aux  Nobles,  Saiges,  Spectables  et  magniffiques  Seigneurs  les 
Vybailly  et  Procureur  du  Roy  au  siege  de  Vienne. 

"  Nobles,  Saiges,  Spectables,  et  magniffiques  Seigneurs. 

"  Magniffiques  Seigneurs,  nous  avons  receu  votre  reponse  par 
notre  serviteur  en  I'affayre  de  Michel  Servet,  et  vous  mercions  bien 
de  bon  coeur,  du  bon  recueil  avez  a  notre  diet  serviteur  faict,  avons 
en  apres  ouys  votre  viguier  et  capitaine  du  palays  royal  et  veu  lex- 
traict  et  exploitz  quil  nous  a  monstrez  touchant  ledict  affaire :  quoy 
faict  avons  voluntier  faict  veoir  ledict  prisounier  audict  vigier  affin  il 
vous  puisse  raporter  si  cest  pas  cestuy  la  quest  este  en  voz  prisons, 
et  lavons  a  sa  requeste  interrogue  de  sa  sortie,  quest  ce  en  quoy 
lavons  pen  pour  lamour  de  vous  gratiffier.  Car  de  nous  puys  qua- 
vons  trouve  ledict  Servet  riere  nous  charge  de  crime  nous  ne  pou- 
vons  icelluy  aultre  part  remettre.  Mais  sumes  en  tout  delibere 
propos  pour  notre  debvoir  dycelluy  suj-vre  selon  ce  quen  avons 
trouve  et  en  faire  ce  que  bonne  iustice  portera.  Et  pourtant  vous 
prions  avoir  de  cela  notre  responce  pour  agreable,  et  croyre  quen 
aultre  chose  a  nous  possible  de  tres  bon  coeur  vous  vouldrions  faire 
plaisir  quest  lendroit  ou  nous  prions  le  Createur  quil  luy  plaise 
vous  augmenter  en  ses  graces.     De  Geneve  ce  31  daugst  1553." 


THE  PRISONER  S  ALARM. 


153 


France,  who  asked  the  surrender  of  a  prisoner  who  was 
accused  of  having  abstracted  one  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  francs  from  the  public  treasury:  "Accord- 
ing to  our  ancient  usages,  when  we  hold  a  prisoner 
charged  with  crimes,  he  never  escapes  from  our  hands 
till  we  have  pronounced  in  his  case  a  sentence  either 
of  acquittal  or  condemnation,  especially  when  there  arc 
accusers.  We  are  sorry  that  we  cannot  on  this  occasion 
gratify  the  king ;  but  as  for  what  remains,  he  may  be 
assured  that  we  shall  do  all  justice."     In  1552  (22d 
July),  a  similar  refusal,  for  the  same  reason,  was  given 
to  the  Senate  of  Chamberry.     It  was  thus  a  principle 
of  Genevese  justice  not  to  remit  to  another  jurisdiction 
than  its  own  the  accused  who  fell  into  its  hands,  even 
when  the  crimes  imputed  to  them  were  committed 
beyond  its  territory.     The  Council  did  not  wish  to 
abandon  its  practice  in  the  present  instance ;  and  it  is 
this  claim  of  competency  which  secured  to  Geneva, 
rather    than   Vienne,    the    melancholy   privilege   of 
burning  Servetus. 

The  latter  could  not  doubt,  however,  that  in  either 
city  there  remained  for  him,  after  his  prison-house,  only 
a  funeral  pile;  for  when  he  had  been  confronted  with 
the  officer  under  whose  custody  he  had  been  impri- 
soned at  Vienne,  "do  you  prefer,"  they  asked  him,  "to 
remain  here  in  the  hands  of  my  Lords,  or  to  be  sent 
back  with  this  jailer  who  has  come  to  demand  you?" 
Upon  which,  throwing  himself  on  the  ground,  and 
weeping,  he  implored  them  to  try  him  at  Geneva,  of- 
fering to  submit  to  the  good  pleasure  of  their  Lord- 
ships'^ but  asking,  above  all,  that  they  would  not  send 


154  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

him  back  to  Yienne.  This  was,  amid  two  evils,  to 
shun  the  more  certain.  There,  the  wood -pile  was  all 
prepared;  hei'e,  hope  was  not  yet  definitively  lost. 

The  Council  being  thus  assembled  at  the  prison, 
embraced  the  opportunity  to  question  Servetus  again 
on  the  details  of  the  process  at  Yienne,  on  his  flight 
from  the  prisons  of  that  town,  and  his  intercourse  in 
Geneva  with  people  in  the  city.  The  accused  for- 
mally denied  this  last  point,  declaring  that  he  had 
spoken  to  none  "  but  those  within  the  prison  who 
had  brought  him  food,  and  that  they  had  even  nailed 
down  his  windows."  These  precautions,  like  those 
already  mentioned,  prove  the  existence  of  facts  which 
rendered  them  necessary.  If  the  prisoner  had  not  had 
intercourse  with  some  in  the  city,  his  keepers  would 
not  thus  have  sought  to  render  it  impossible. 

After  being  questioned  again  as  to  his  opinion  re- 
garding the  mass,  which  he  said  "  he  reckoned 
wicked,"  and  upon  his  practice  of  being  present  at  its 
celebration  in  Yienne,  Servetus  replied  that  he  did  so 
after  the  example  of  St  Paul,  who  went  to  the  temple 
like  the  Jews ;  but  confessed  that  in  doing  so  he  had 
sinned  through  the  fear  of  death.  He  was  again  con- 
fronted with  the  officer  from  Yienne,  from  whom  he 
declared  "  he  had  never  received  any  favour  or  aid  "  in 
escaping  from  prison.  The  officer  having  asked  a 
certificate  of  that  declaration,  it  was  immediately 
granted.  But  we  have  not  yet  done  with  the  people 
of  Yienne. 

On  the  next  day,  1st  of  September,  yet  another  letter 
came  from  that  city,  starting  a  new  inquiry  concerning 


APPLICATIONS  TO  THE  COUNCIL ITS  MOTIVES.    1 55 

the  prisoner.   That  letter,  written  by  M.  de  Maugiron, 
lieutenant-general   of  the  king  of  France,    in  Dau- 
phine,  informed  the  magistrates  that  the  goods  of  Ser- 
vetus,  amounting  in  value  to  four  thousand  crowns, 
had  been  confiscated  by  his  majesty,  and  bestowed  on 
the  son  of  the  said  M.  de  Maugiron ;  but  in  order  to  be 
put  in  possession,  it  was  necessary  to  know  the  credi- 
tors of  Servetus,  and  to  have  their  accounts  in  hand. 
With  that  design,  M.  de  IMaugiron  asked  the  Council 
to  question  the  prisoner,  and  if  it  found  him  possessed 
of  any  bills  and  obligations,  "  to  communicate  them  to 
him  by  all  means,  in  a  little  memorandum,  containing 
the  names  and  surnames  of  the  debtors,  the  sums, 
and  the  agents  who  had  passed  them."     Further:  the 
noble  correspondent,  forgetting  a  little  the  medical 
aid  which  Servetus  had  rendered  to  him,  or  wish- 
ing perhaps  to  clear  himself  from  the  suspicion  of 
having  favoured   his  escape   from  Vienne,  declared 
that  he  was  very  happy  to  learn  that  he  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  magistrates  of  Geneva;  and  he  "  blessed 
God  for  the  assurance  which  he  had  that  they  would 
take   better  care   than   the   ministers   of  justice   at 
Vienne  had  done,  and  do  such  justice  as  that  he  would 
not  have  the  means  of  again  teaching,   writing,  or 
publishing  his  false,  heretical  doctrines."    This  appeal 
to  the  self-esteem  of  the  Council  of  Geneva  contri- 
buted, perhaps,  along  with  the  desire  of  rivalling  in 
severity  a  Catholic  tribunal,  to  bring  in  at  last  a 
sentence   of  condemnation   against  Servetus.     Who 
knows,  in  fact,  to  what  extent  the  fear  of  appearing 
worse    Christians,   and   less   scrupulous   magistrates 


156  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

than  the  people  of  Vienne,  operated  on  the  minds  of 
the  Genevese  judges?* 

But  if  the  letter  of  IM.  de  Mausfiron  had  some  in- 
fluence  in  this  respect,  it  did  not  accomplish  the 
object  for  which  it  had  been  specially  ^Yritten.  Ser- 
vetus  utterly  refused,  for  the  sake  of  his  debtors,  to 
make  knoAvn  the  nature  of  his  credits,  whose  detail, 
he  said,  did  not  affect  "the  principal  cause;"  for 
which  he  was  imprisoned.  The  Court  did  not  insist 
further.  Amied  Perrin  and  Berthelier  protected  Ser- 
vetus  by  their  presence;  and  an  answer  was  politely 
sent  to  M.  de  Maugiron  that  they  could  draw  nothing 
from  the  prisoner,  but  that  if  ever  they  obtained  any 
statement  from  him,  the  information  would  be  im- 
mediately transmitted. I 

*  We  again  perceive  from  the  reasoning  of  Rilliet,  to  what  influ- 
ences he  traces  the  final  condemnation  of  Servetus.  It  has  hitherto 
been  ascribed  solely  to  the  remorseless  implacability  of  Calvin — 
with  what  truth  may  now  appear. — Tr. 

+  It  appears  from  the  Registers  of  Council  (30th  October  1553), 
that  among  the  papers  of  Servetus  there  were  found  "  two  notes  of 
acknowledgment;"  that  is  to  say,  two  holograph  vouchers,  such  as 
M.  de  Maugiron  desired,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  they  were 
transmitted.  The  following  is  the  correspondence  with  the  Coun- 
cil: — 

"  A  messieurs  les  Scindicques  et  Consulz  de  Genefve  mes  bons 
voisins  et  amvs. 

"  Messieurs,  ie  suis  adverty  que  vous  tenez  prisonnier  ungnomme 
Michiel  Servet  surnomme  de  Villeneufve,  de  quoy  ie  suis  tres  aise 
et  en  loue  Dieu  pour  lassurance  que  iay  que  vous  en  ferez  meilleure 
garde  que  nont  fait  les  ministres  de  iustice  de  Vyenne,  et  telle 
iustice  quil  naura  plus  moyen  de  docgmatiser,  esci'ipre  et  publier 
ses  faulces  hereticques  doctrines.  Et  pour  ce  messieurs  que  ie  vous 
ay  tousiours  congneu  mes  bons  amys,  ie  vous  veulx  bien  advertir 
que  Ie  Roy  a  donne  a  ung  myen  filz  tons  les  biens  et  deniers  appar- 


IMPRESSIONS  ON  THE  COUNCIL— THEIR  RESULT.  1  57 

The  double  incident  thus  occurring  during  the  pro- 
cess, arising  out  of  demands  fromVienne,  furnished  the 
last 'occasion  of  interrogating  Servetus,  and  formed 
the  close  of  the  second  phase  of  his  trial.    The  public 
functionary  had  terminated  his  prosecution;  and  it 
seemed  as  if  nothing  more  remained  to  be  expected  but 
the  decision  of  the  tribunal,  condemning  or  acqmttmg 
the  prisoner.     It  appeared,  however,  that  the  Little 
Council  did  not  reckon  itself  sufficiently  convinced 
of  the  guilt   of    Servetus,   and  that  the  manner  in 
which  he  had  conducted  his  own  defence  at  the  later 
examinations,  had  occasioned  some  indecision  in  the 
mind  of  the  judges.     Whether  it   was    of  its  own 
accord,  and  to  obtain  new  light,  or  whether  it  was  at 
the  request  of  Calvin,  who  desired  to  procure  from 

tenans  audict  Servet  qui  sont  de  in  ou  IHI  v  (rn^e  ecus),  ainsi 
nuon  diet,  et  quil  les  avoit  en  bancque;  mais  touteffois  depui.  qml 
sabsenta  des  prisons  de  Yyenne,  Ion  na  pen  veriffier  ses  debtes  par- 
cequil  emporta  les  cedules  et  obligations,  tellement  que  ceulx  qui 
luy  doibvent  maintenant  luy  demandent.     A  ceste  cause,  messieurs, 
ie  vous  prie  bien  affectionnement  quil  vous  plaise  mefaire  ce  plaisir, 
et  a  men  fik  le  bien,  dinterroger  ledict  Servet  sur  sesdictes  debtes, 
tellement  quilz  puissent  estre  iUusides  et  mis  en  lumiere;  et  si  vous 
lavez  trouve  saisi  daulcunes  cedules  ou  obligations  sur  aulcungs  de 
subgects  du  Roy  residans  en  son  obeissance,  menfaire  part  a  tout  le 
movns  par  ung  petit  memoire  contenant  les  noms  et  su^^^nis  des 
debiteurs,  les  sommes,  et  les  notaires  qui  les  ont  passees.     V  ous 
assurant,  messieurs,  que  le  plaisir  me  ferez  en  cola  ie  le  recognoistray 
pour  vous  ou  pour  les  votres,  si  iamais  me  voullez  employer.     Uest 
lendroict,  messieurs,  ou  ie  me  recommande  a  vos  bonnes  graces,  et 
prie  leCreateur  quil  vous  donne  en  sante  heureuseset  longues  vyes. 
De  Beau\'oir,  ce  XXIX.^  jour  daoust  1553. 

*'  Votre  voisin  et  bien  bon  amy 
MOGIRON." 

[Etplusbas]     "De  la  Tour." 


158  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

Servetus    the  disavowal   of  his   errors,*   the   Little 
Council  decided  to  confront   the   prisoner  and   the 
ministers  once  more,  to  hear  them  in  their  discussion 
with  each  other,  and  thus  to  arrive  at  a  conclusion. 
This  interview  took  place  at  the  same  sitting  where 
Servetus  had  been  interrogated  at  the  request  of  M. 
de  Maugiron;  but  instead  of  preserving  the  forms 
previously  observed,  the  debate  changed  its  character; 
the  oral  proceeding  was  succeeded  by  a  written  dis- 
cussion, w^here  the  irritation  of  Servetus,  for  a  brief 
period  pent  up,  re-appeared   with  greater   violence, 
and  gave  a  new  aspect  to  his  trial.     This  unexpected 
turn  was  contemporaneous  with  an  event  with  which 
it  must  of  necessity  connect  itself,  and  of  which  we 
are  now  to  give  an  account. 

*  Declaration,  p.  1338. 


A  NEW  CONFLICT ERASTIANISM.  1  5D 


CHAPTER  XL 

Written  discussion  between  servetus  and  calvin 

debates  upon  excommunication  between  the 

reformer  and  the  council. 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  (1st  September)  on  which 
Servetus  had  again  been  confronted  with  Calvin,  the 
Little  Council  had  granted  an  audience  to  Philibert 
Berthelier,  who  wished  to  solicit  their  warrant  to 
partake  of  the  sacrament  of  the  supper,  in  spite  of 
the  prohibition  of  the  Consistory.  After  he  had  pre- 
sented this  request,  Calvin,  who,  on  his  part,  had 
desired  to  be  heard  upon  the  point,  strongly  opposed 
such  a  pretension,  and  conjured  the  magistracy  not  to 
grant  Berthelier  a  warrant  which  was  expressly  con- 
trary to  the  Edicts  of  the  Republic,  according  to 
which  the  Little  Council  possessed  no  power  con- 
cerning excommunication.  The  opposition  of  the 
Reformer  was  unsuccessful ;  and  in  spite  of  his  pro- 
testations, the  Council  replied  to  Berthelier,  that  "  if 
he  felt  himself  clear  in  his  conscience,  and  fit  to  re* 
ceive  the  sacrament,  and  purposing  to  leave  past  events 
out  of  view,  he  might  partake  of  it;  and  they  left 
him  to  do  so  or  not,  on  his  own  responsibility." 


160  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

This  resolution,  in  ^vhicll  the  magistrate,  by  a  strange 
confusion,  constituted  himself  a  director  of  the  con- 
science, reversed  the  whole  system  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline  established  by  Calvin,  and  plainly  mani- 
fested the  dislike  which  the  Little  Council  bore  to  him. 
He  considered  it,  in  effect,  as  a  triumph  of  his  ene- 
mies, due  to  the  influence  of  their  leader,  Amied 
Perrin,  under  whose  presidentship  at  the  Council  the 
resolution  had  been  adopted. 

Some  hours  after  it  had  been  agreed  on,  the  criminal 
investigation  was  resumed  in  the  prison,  where  Calvin 
appeared  with  his  colleagues.  He  beheld  among  the 
judges  his  two  antagonists,  Perrin  and  Berthelier,  flush- 
ed with  their  recent  victory,  while  Servetus  saw  in  them 
his  two  defenders.  The  discussion  was  opened  upon  the 
theological  questions  already  often  debated,  but  it  was 
interrupted  at  the  commencement  by  the  act  of  Serve- 
tus, says  Calvin  ;*  by  the  act  of  the  judges,  says  the 
minute  of  the  meeting;  we  say,  by  the  deed  of  each. 
The  oral  debate  had  obviously  not  been  favourable  to 
the  Spaniard,  who  was  not  a  match  for  the  Reformer 
in  argument,  and  who  felt  himself  more  free  and  more 
eloquent  when  he  held  his  pen.  He  must  therefore  at- 
tempt this  new  mode  of  defence,  and  his  wish  found 
support  and  countenance  from  his  protectors,  who 
strove  to  supply  him  with  the  means  of  resisting  their 
common  adversary  with  greater  success.  The  triumph 
of  the  morning  had  begun  the  struggle;  it  was  now 
the  interest  of  the  Libertine  leaders  to  employ  all  kinds 

*  See  Epist.  ad  Viretum^  4th  September  1553;  ad  Bullingerum, 
25th  October,  1553;  ad  Ecclts.  Tigiir.,  26th  November,  1553. 


OPPOSITION  TO  CALVIN.  161 

of  weapons  in  their  defence,  in  the  hope  of  harassing 
the    Reformer.      They   behoved   to   restore   to  Ser- 
vetus  the  support  of  which  they  had  for  a  brief  period 
deprived  him;  and  by  fomenting  his  resistance  to 
Calvin,  to  raise  difficulties  in  his  way,  which  would 
render  him  a  less  formidable  antagonist  to  themselves. 
The  written  discussion  had,  in  effect,  the  advantage, 
not  merely  of  procuring  for  Servetus  greater  facility 
for  self-defence,  but  protracting  the  affair  and  compli- 
cating the  position  of  Calvin,  already  become  so  critical. 
The  protectors  of  the  prisoner  wished — and  it  was, 
without  doubt,  at  their  instigation  that  he  himself 
made  the  demand* — that  his  affair  should  be  referred 
to  the  Churches-  of  Switzerland,  who,  in  the  case  of 
Bolsec,    had   shown  themselves  much   more  mode- 
rate than  Calvin.    For  a  contrary  reason,  he  was 
anxious  that  that  reference   should  not   be  made,t 
though   he  did   not  venture  openly  to  oppose   it.  J 
However  that  may  be,  he  was  not  mistaken  as  to  the 
causes  which  led  to  the  preference  given  to  the  written 
form  of  discussion.     He  also  understood  that  the  re- 
fusal of  the  oral  debate  by  Servetus,  arose  from  the 
encouragements  held  out  by  the  leaders  of  the  anti- 
Calvin  party.     "  He  did  not  vouchsafe  to  explain  the 
proposal;  from  which  there  arises  a  probable  con- 
jecture that  he  had  fabricated  for  himself  some  vain 
confidence  from  I  know  not  whom."]}     Calvin  would 
have  spoken  more  plainly,  if  he  had  not,  at  the  time 
when  he  published  his  work  on  Servetus,  been  recon- 

*  Calvin  affirms  it. — Declaration,  p.  1357. 
f  See  below,  tig  letter  to  BuUinger,  of  7th  September. 
:J:  Declaration,  p.  1337.  ||  Declaration,  p.  1338. 

L 


162  CALVIN  AND  SERVETFS. 

ciled  for  a  little  to  those  to  whom  he  made  allusion. 
But  he  explained  himself  concerning  them  in  a  way 
that  admits  of  no  doubt,  when  he  wrote  to  the  Church 
of  Zurich,  on  the  16th  November  1553:  "Bertheher 
has  for  protectors  and  accomplices  those  who  have  not 
been  ashamed  loudly  to  defend  the  cause  of  Servetus." 

I^Ioreover,  what  demonstrates,  with  the  clearest 
evidence,  the  hope  which  the  prisoner  placed  in  the 
power  of  his  protectors,  is  the  language  which  he 
from  that  time  adopted;  and  the  open,  furious,  mortal 
war  which  he  waged  against  the  Reformer,  now  be- 
come the  object  of  his  direct  attacks.  Servetus  threw 
himself,  with  all  the  ardour  of  a  man  who  believed 
himself  well-nigh  sure  of  victory,  into  a  path  vrhere,  by 
his  own  confession,  he  wished  to  pui'sue  his  oppo- 
nent, "  even  till  the  cause  be  terminated  by  the 
death  of  him  or  me."  The  contest,  for  a  moment 
suspended,  while  Servetus,  abandoned  by  his  friends, 
thought  only  of  rendering  both  himself  and  his  doc- 
trines innocuous,  is  resumed  under  countenance  of 
the  antipathy  which  the  Little  Council  bore  to  Calvin. 
The  position  of  the  latter  was  difficult ;  he  displayed 
in  it  all  his  powers  and  the  most  astonishing  energy; 
for  nothing  contributed  to  his  grandeur  so  much  as  de- 
bate. It  added  also  to  the  talent  of  Servetus;  but  his 
mind  and  his  animosity  could  not  hold  in  check  the 
indomitable  soul  of  his  opponent. 

At  the  meeting  where  they  stood  face  to  face, 
the  Little  Council,  without  entering  on  the  discussion, 
decided  that  Calvin  should  extract,  and  give  in, 
written  in  Latin,  "  the  articles,  word  for  word,  which 


CHARGES  AGAINST  SERVETUS.  163 

are  in  the  book  of  the  said  Servetus."  After  this 
step  these  articles  were  to  be  communicated  to  the 
prisoner,  who  was  to  gire  in  his  answers  and  vindi- 
cations also  in  Latin,  that  the  discussion  might  he 
intelligible  to  the  Swiss  Churches:  Calvin,  in  his  turn, 
was  to  furnish  replies.  In  this  manner  the  state  of 
the  case,  and  the  arguments  on  either  side,  were  to 
be  plainly  set  forth,*  and  at  this  stage  we  cannot  but 
commend  the  impartiality  of  the  Council. 

On  the  same  day,  Calvin,  in  obedience  to  the  order 
of  the  Council,  extracted  thirty -eight  propositions  from 
the  work  of  Servetus,  which  he  was  content  to  repro- 
duce, according  to  the  injunction  given  to  him,  with 
the  references,  according  to  the  text,  without  either 
combating  or  refuting  them.     All  that  he  did  was  to 
prefix  the  following  note :  "  Articles  extracted  from 
the  books  of  M.  Servetus,  which  the  ministers  of  the 
"Word  of  God  in  the  Church  of  Geneva  produce,  being 
prepared  to  maintain  that  these  propositions  are  in  part 
blasphemous;  and  in  part  full  of  errors  and  profane 
reveries.     Further,  that  they  are  utterly  repugnant  to 
the  Word  of  God,  and  the  common  consent  of  the 
universal  Church."     The  articles  censured  were  no 
other,  it  was  understood,  than  those  which  had  already 
been  mentioned  in  the  oral  proceedings,  and  as  they 
had  been  promptly  prepared   by  Calvin,  they  were 
forthwith  sent  to  Servetus,  to  receive  his  reply. 

While  he  was  occupied  in  that  work,  Calvin,  pro- 
ceeding from  one  adversary  to  another,  left  the  heretic, 

*  All  these  parts  of  the  written  debate  are  found  translated  into 
French,  in  the  Declaration^  pp.  1357-1388. 


164-  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

to  combat  on  an  arena  where  the  least  delay  might  have 
occasioned  his  defeat. 

In  fact,  the  excommunication  of  Berthelier,  cancelled 
by  the  Little  Council,  was  an  affair  which,  to  the 
Reformer's  mind,  took  precedence  of  every  other,  and 
which  he  behoved  to  prevent  from  being  so  disposed  of 
as  to  injure  ecclesiastical  discipline.  Hence,  as  soon  as 
Calvin  had  obeyed  the  order  of  the  magistrates  re- 
garding the  enumeration  of  the  errors  of  Servetus,  he 
must  hasten  to  concentrate  all  his  attention  on  the 
excommunicated.  Time  pressed;  for  it  was  on  the 
day  after  the  morrow  (Lord's-day,  the  Sd  of  Septem- 
ber) that  Berthelier,  strong  in  the  countenance  of  the 
civil  power,  calculated  on  presenting  himself  at  the 
holy  table,  there  to  brave  the  authority  of  the  Re- 
former, and  humble  him  in  the  eyes  of  all  the  flock. 
Calvin  did  not  hesitate  to  follow  up  the  resistance 
which  he  had  oifered  in  vain  to  the  sentence  of  the 
magistrates;  and  with  that  design  he  went  to  the 
Syndics,  boldly  to  ask  an  instant  meeting  of  the  Little 
Council.  After  many  endeavours  he  obtained  his 
demand;  and  the  Council  was  summoned  for  Satur- 
day, the  2d  of  September. 

Calvin  appeared,  and  protesting  with  energy  against 
the  decision  of  the  previous  evening  in  favour  of 
Bertheher,  he  denounced  it  as  contrary  to  the  Edicts 
of  the  Republic.  Alternately  employing  vehemence 
and  moderation,  he  strives  to  lead  back  the  magis- 
trates to  sentiments  more  in  harmony  with  his  views. 
He  declares  that  he  would  die  rather  than  tolerate, 
contrary  to  his  conscience,  the  presence  of  an  ex- 


berthelier's  excommunication.  165 

communicated  man  at  the  sacred  table  —  he  con- 
jures the  Council  not  to  adhere  to  its  decree,  nor  to 
employ  violence  towards  him,  but  rather  to  afford 
support  in  an  affair  where  he  acted  for  the  good  of 
the  Church,  and  according  to  the  sacred  duty  of  the 
ministry.  After  Calvin,  they  hear  the  Consistory, 
which  employs  the  same  language.  But  their  Lordships 
did  not  alter  their  resolution;  and  in  their  official 
answer  declared  that  they  continued  to  Berthelier  the 
warrant  which  they  had  formerly  granted. 

The  indignation  of  Calvin  is  at  its  height,  but  his 
resolution  is  unchanged — if  Berthelier  presents  him- 
self at  the  communion,  Calvin  will,  on  his  part,  venture 
to  refuse  the  sacrament.  This  inflexible  perseverance 
of  the  Reformer  led  the  Council  to  fear  a  very  serious 
collision,  and,  to  prevent  it,  they  resolved  secretly  to 
advise  Berthelier  to  abstain  from  appearing  at  the 
holy  table.*  Thus,  while  maintaining  its  decision, 
the  Council  prevented  the  effect — the  principle  was 
preserved,  but  the  struggle  was  avoided.  Calvin,  who 
did  not  know  the  secret  advice  given  to  Berthelier, 
prepared  for  the  combat  with  the  only  arms  he  could 
employ — the  power  of  his  eloquence  and  the  moral 
authority  of  his  word.  The  thunders  of  the  Christian 
pulpit  remained  as  his  only  resource,  and  he  prepared 
to  launch  them.t 

*  '*  Nevertheless,  it  will  be  well  to  advise  the  said  Berthelier,  if 
he  can,  to  abstain  from  taking  and  receiving  it  for  the  present;  and 
that  this  be  done  privately." — Registers  of  Council^  2d  Sejytcmber 
1553. 

t  It  was,  then,  by  a  mean  artifice  that  the  magistrates  of  Geneva 
here  accomplished  their  object,  viz.,  the  subordination  of  the  spiri- 


166  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

To  conquer  or  die  in  a  cause  which  he  reckoned 
sacred,  was,  in  Calvin's  eyes,  the  only  alternative 
worthy  of  his  mission  in  Geneva;  and  it  was  with 
that  thought  that,  on  the  morning  of  the  Lord's-day, 
3d  September,  he  began  the  discourse  which  preceded 
the  solemn  act  of  the  communion  in  the  Temple  of 
St  Peter.  A  numerous  assemblage,  disquieted  and 
agitated  by  contrary  opinions,  had  come  to  take  part 
in  that  solemn  contest,  where  the  lot  of  Geneva  was 
at  stake,  since  it  had  reference  to  that  of  Calvin. 
No  one  could  be  in  doubt  regarding  it;  for  the  Re- 
former did  not  disguise  either  his  resolution  to  repel 
from  the  supper  the  communicant  whom  the  Coun- 
cil, in  contempt  of  the  Consistory,  had  sent  to  it,  or 
his  purpose,  in  case  of  a  failure,  to  abandon  Geneva 
for  ever. 

His  language  was  characterized  by  a  noble  boldness. 
"  As  for  myself,"  said  he,  "  while  God  shall  keep  me 
here,  since  he  has  given  me  constancy,  and  I  have 
taken  it  from  him,  I  will  use  it,  whatever  may  occur. 
I  will  govern  myself  only  according  to  the  law  of  my 
Master,  which  is  altogether  clear  and  notorious.  As 
we  are  now  about  to  receive  the  holy  supper  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  if  any  one  who  has  been  debarred 
by  the  Consistory  shall   approach  this  table,   it   is 

tual  to  the  civil  power.  Contrary  to  the  constitution  of  the  Republic, 
they  had  done  what  was  beyond  their  province,  and  injustice  led  to 
cowardice.  They  could  not  stand  by  the  results  of  their  own  act, 
and  clandestinely  prevailed  on  the  excommunicated  man  to  wave 
bis  privilege.  But,  in  the  meantime,  their  usurpation  was  sanc- 
tioned by  a  precedent,  and  a  more  favourable  opportunity  might 
occur  for  completely  achieving  their  object. — Tr. 


Calvin's  boldness — his  appeal  to  his  flock.  107 

certain  that,  though  it  should  cost  my  life,  I  will  show 
myself  such  as  I  ought  to  be."  * 

When  Calvin  descended  from  the  pulpit,  after  his 
discourse,  to  distribute  the  sacred  elements  to  the 
faithful,  Berthelier  did  not  appear,  and  the  Reformer 
might  regard  himself  as  triumphant.  But  the  pru- 
dence of  the  Council  had  probably  done  mare  than 
his  eloquent  words,  and  he  speedily  knew  to  what  he 
must  ascribe  his  success.  The  magistrates  had  sought 
to  avoid  a  scandal,  and  not  to  secure  a  brilliant  vic- 
tory to  Calvin;  and  he,  aware  of  the  ever  hostile 
feelings  of  which  he  was  the  object,  far  from  seeing 
in  the  absence  of  Berthelier  a  subject  for  triumph, 
believed  that  he  found  in  it,  on  the  contrary,  the  cause 
of  an  approaching  exile.  On  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day,  re-ascending  the  pulpit,  he  communicated 
the  troubles  of  his  soul  to  his  hearers  in  these  words, 
as  full  of  dignity  as  of  sadness: — 

"  I  must  declare  to  you  that  I  know  not  but  this 
may  be  the  last  sermon  I  shall  preach  in  Geneva;  not 
because  I  take  leave  of  my  own  accord — God  forbid 
that  I  should  wish  to  abandon  the  sphere  of  my  rightful 
authority ! — but  I  take  what  has  happened  as  if  it  had 
been  declared  that  they  will  be  no  longer  served  by 
me.  And  thus,  since  they  will  not  allow  me  to  do 
what,  in  my  conscience,  I  feel  to  be  duty,  and  would 
constrain  me  to  do  what  is  not  lawful  according  to 
God,   it  is  impossible  that  I,  for  my  part,  can  go 

*  The  sermon  from  which  this  passage  is  taken  is  not  found  in 
the  manuscript  collection  of  the  public  library,  where  the  discourses 
of  the  year  1553  are  awanting.  This  quotation,  and  the  following, 
are  taken  from  the  unpublished  History  of  Geneva  by  Gautier. 


ICS  CALVIN  AND  SERTETUS. 

further.  As  long  as  I  am  at  liberty  to  preach  and 
serve  you,  I  will  do  it  in  the  name  of  God ;  but  when 
they  impose  on  me  an  intolerable  condition,  I  will  not, 
as  said  St  Ambrose,  resist  those  that  are  in  power." 

In  all  this,  Calvin  thought  less  of  himself  than  of 
his  work;  and  in  spite  of  his  resistance,  and  the 
absence  of  Berthelier,  he  did  not  flatter  himself  with 
success.  The  opposition  of  his  enemies  left  him  little 
hope;  but  he  was  resolved  never  to  yield  to  them. 
This  is  what  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Viret  the  day 
after  his  sermons  at  St  Peter's:  "  The  disaffected  may 
now  obtain  the  object  of  their  desires.  As  for  me, 
what  very  naturally  torments  me  is  the  calamity  ta 
the  Church.  If  God  permit  Satan  to  crush  the  liberty 
of  my  ministry  under  such  a  despotism,  all  is  at  an  end 
with  me.  He  who  has  inflicted  the  wound  will  find 
a  remedy.  But  behold  the  long  years  during  which 
impunity  in  crime  goes  on  increasing;  and  God  perhaps 
prepares  some  judgment,  whose  execution  I  am  not 
worthy  to  contemplate.  At  all  events  it  is  our  duty  to 
submit  to  his  will,  whatever  it  may  be.  Pray  for  this 
unhappy  Church." 

A  mind  less  firm,  a  character  less  boldly  tempered 
than  that  of  the  Reformer,  could  not  have  resisted  the 
mournful  emotions  and  the  increasing  hostility  which 
assailed  him — he  made  head  against  them  all.  Grap- 
pling with  two  adversaries  at  once,  Calvin  maintained 
the  double  struggle.  On  the  one  hand,  he  resisted 
Berthelier  and  the  Council,  in  the  pulpit;  on  the 
other,  he  combated  in  writing  the  exculpatory  answers 
of  Servetus,  and  presented  to  the  Council,  on  Tuesday 


SERVETUS  ASSAILS  CALVIN EXPLANATIONS.      169 

the  5tli  of  September,  the  "  Brief  Refutation  of  his 
Errors  and  Impieties." 

The  Spaniard  had  made  haste  to  reply  to  the 
charges  contained  in  the  thirty-eight  articles  prepared 
against  him.  Twenty-four  hours  had  sufficed  to  draw 
up  a  pleading  at  once  apologetic  and  hostile,  in  which 
he  justified  his  own  opinions,  and  keenly  combated  Cal- 
vin. Knowing  him  to  be  engaged  in  an  arduous  strug- 
gle, Servetus  Avished  to  raise  up  one  obstacle  more; 
and  in  thus  seconding  the  enemies  of  the  Reformer, 
to  secure  for  himself  a  more  favourable  chance.  In 
that  document,  prepared  in  haste,  but  exhibiting  great 
clearness  of  understanding  and  keen  exasperation, 
he  employs  as  much  precision  in  explaining  his  views 
as  violence  and  bitterness  in  attacking  Calvin. 

At  the  commencement  he  contemptuously  repels 
the  Reformer's  interference  in  the  debate,  and  clearly 
states  the  question.  "  Already,"  says  he,  "  Calvin 
claims  such  an  authority  that  he  frames  articles  in  the 
style  of  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne.  He  does  not 
understand  my  opinion,  or  he  craftily  distorts  it.  All 
my  aim,"  continues  Servetus,  "has  been  to  declare,  that 
the  name  of  Son  is  properly  attributed  in  Scripture  to 
Jesus  Christ  as  man.  If,  then,  the  Scripture  always 
takes  it  in  that  sense,  we  must  also  take  it.  I  have 
said,"  he  further  adds,  "  that  the  second  person  in  the 
Godhead  has  been  so  named  in  ancient  times,  because 
that  was  an  exhibition  or  representation  of  the  man 
Jesus  Christ,  who  already,  by  hypostasis,  existed  in 
God,  and  shone   forth  visibly  in  the    Godhead."* 

*  The  French  of  this  sentence  is  as  follows:  "J'aj  dit  que  la 


170  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

This  is  a  more  frank  exposition  than  any  that  Ser- 
vetus  has  vet  made  as  to  his  doctrine  regfarding:  the 

•J  DO 

Son  of  God.  Amhiguities  in  language  disappear 
from  his  pen  in  proportion  as  his  confidence  in  the 
supporters  of  his  cause  increases. 

To  justify  the  sense  'vvhich  he  gave  to  the  word 
person^  in  -svhich  he  saw,  like  the  Platonists,  a  kind 
of  pre-existing  idea  which  prefigured  the  future  Christ, 
and  not,  like  the  Church,  a  distinct  subsistence,  hav- 
ing its  proper  life  in  the  bosom  of  the  divine  essence, 
and  subsequently  incarnate  in  the  man  Jesus,  Ser- 
vetus  cites  passages  from  Tertullian,  Irenseus,  and  St 
Clement,  favourable,  in  his  view,  to  the  interpretation 
which  he  proposes.  After  that,  resuming  the  arti- 
cles drawn  up  by  Calvin,  he  undertakes  to  answer 
them  in  succession,  and  commences  thus:  "  The  title 
makes  me  marvel  at  the  impudence  of  the  man  who 
boasts  of  being  a  Catholic,  although  he  is  a  disciple  of 
Simon  the  magician,  as  I  have  evidently  shown  in  my 
Apology.  Who  will  say  that  a  prosecutor '""  and  a 
homicide  is  a  true  minister  of  the  Church  ?" 

To  treat  Calvin  thus  within  the  walls  of  a  prison, 
was  to  be  very  sure  of  victory — to  rush  into  a  path,  at 
the  end  of  which  the  defeat  of  his  adversary  seemed 
almost  to  be  certain.  Circumstances  warranted  this 
hope  of  Servetus,  so  that  in  all  that  followed  of  his 
defence,  he  addressed  himself  directly  to  Calvin,  as  if 

oecoode  personne  en  la  Diete  a  este  jadis  ainsi  nominee,  pourceque 
c'estoit  una  monstre  on  representation  de  rhomme  Jesus  Christ, 
lequel  desia  par  hypostase  subsistoit  en  Dieu,  et  reluigoit  visible- 
ment  en  la  Diete. — Tr. 

*  Accusateur  Criminel. — Tr. 


THE  INVECTIVES  OF  SERVETUS.  171 

he  had  no  longer  any  terms  to  keep  ^yith  him  and 
apostrophizes  him  thus,   from    his  pride  of  place: 
"You  do  not  know  what  you  say-you  are  a  wretch, 
if  you  persist  in  condemning  what  yon  do  not  un- 
derstand.    Did  you  think  to  stun  the  ears   of  the 
judges  hy  your  barking?     You  have  a  confused  in- 
tellect, so   that  you  cannot   understand   the   truth. 
Wretch  I  perverted  by  Simon  Magus,  you  are  igno- 
rant of  the  first  principles  of  things-you  make  men 
only  blocks  of  wood  and  stone  by  establishing  the 

slavery  of  the  will." 

Moreover,  far  from  equivocating   or   resorting    o 
subterfuges,  as  in  the  oral  debate,  Servetus  expressly 
.rants  the  opinions  that  were  imputed  to  h.m,  and 
his  brief  and  proud  replies  are  altogether  m  harmony 
with  the  state  of  mind  which  the  rest  of  his  apologetic 
plea  betrays.     Already  he  believed  Calvin  to  be  de- 
throned, and  saw  himself  placed  in  safety.     The  op- 
position of  the  Council  in  favour  of  Betthelier  had 
turned  the  head  of  Servetus. 

Calvin,  as  we  have  said,  wholly  occupied  as  he  was 
„ith  the  controversy  against  the  magistrates,  which 
was  then  at  its  height,  did  not  lose  an  instant  m 
renellin"  the  vindication  and  attacks  of  the  heretic, 
and  repVng  to  him,  as  he  had  already  been  autho- 
rized by  the  judges  to  do.    This  reply,  which  occupie 
twenty-three  folio  pages,  was  prepared  in  two  days;  it 
hears  the  signature  of  all  the  ministers  of  the  Church 
of  Geneva,  to  the  number  of  fourteen.    The  form  .8 
prolix,  and  follows  the  memorial  of  Servetus,  which 
ft  refutes  step  by  step,  not  without  launching  against 


172  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

the  author  epithets  analogous  to  those  "which  he  had 
hurled  aoainst  Calvin.  Yet  the  aim  of  the  latter  was 
to  act,  in  this  respect,  differently  from  his  antagonist. 
"  If  Servetus,"  he  says,  "  had  not  in  the  first  instance 
called  Calvin  a  homicide,  and  had  not  uttered  violent 
invectives  against  him,  he  feared  that  he  might  not  have 
appeared  a  sufficiently  powerful  haranguer  in  outrages. 
For  our  part,  we  will  simply  treat  of  the  matter  under 
discussion."  In  spite  of  this  declaration,  injurious 
words  against  Servetus  are  not  spared;  hut  these  were 
a  coin  so  current  in  those  days,  that  instead  of  heing 
deemed  excessive,  they  fell  from  the  pen  without 
ohservation.  The  conclusion  of  this  reply  contains 
the  most  grievous  outrage.  "  Whoever,"  says  Calvin, 
"  will  calmly  weigh,  and  prudently  consider  these 
things,  may  clearly  see  that  Servetus  had  no  other 
end  but  to  extinguish  the  light  which  we  have  from 
the  "Word  of  God,  so  as  to  abolish  all  religion." 

Governed  by  absolute  convictions,  which  controversy 
rendered  still  more  exclusive,  the  Reformer  might 
believe  that,  in  speaking  thus,  he  only  spoke  the  truth. 
But  we  who  judge  calmly  at  a  distance,  cannot  sub- 
scribe to  this  charge.  On  the  contrary,  it  appears  to 
us  unjust  and  false,  because  it  charges  Servetus  with 
intentions  quite  contrary  to  his  real  designs.  In  his 
book,  he  had  sought  to  accomplish  a  serious  work, 
and  was  animated  by  a  profound  respect  and  sincere 
faith  in  Christianity,  as  he  understood  it.  The  reve- 
lation contained  in  Scripture  formed,  in  his  eyes,  the 
supreme  and  sacred  rule  in  religious  questions,  upon 
which  the  Holy  Spirit  alone  could  enlighten  the  un- 


Calvin's  attacks — j.  bolsec.  173 

derstanding;  Christ  was  his  Master,  his  Saviour,  and 
his  God.  If  he  understood  the  mysteries  of  divine  on- 
tology differently  from  the  Reformers — if  he  quarrelled 
with  them  on  the  subject  of  baptism — if  he  did  not 
attach  himself  exclusively  to  justification  by  faith — if 
he  often  professed  strange  theories — his  aim  was  not  to 
destroy  the  Gospel  institution  in  the  spirit  of  hostile 
incredulity.  One  may,  with  reason,  deny  the  justness 
of  his  opinions,  and  the  moral  force  of  his  character; 
but  nothing  permits  us  to  suspect  him  of  perversity. 
What  passes  now  for  perhaps  a  respectable  error  was 
then  called  heresy,  and  reckoned  equivalent  to  a 
crime.* 

The  enemies  of  Calvin  are,  in  this  respect,  as  de- 
cided as  himself;  and  Bolsec,  whom  the  Reformer 
had  caused  to  be  banished  from  Geneva  for  his  at- 
tack on  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  expresses  him- 
self on  the  subject  of  Servetus  with  even  less  mode- 
ration than  their  common  adversary  did.  He  declares 
that  he  felt  "  no  displeasure  at  the  death  of  so  obsti- 
nate and  monstrous  an  heretic,  for  he  was  utterly  vile, 
and  unworthy  of  the  society  of  men ;  and  I  would 
wish  that  all  who  aid  liim  were  exterminated,  and  the 
Church  of  our  Lord  well  purified  from  such  vermin."  t 
Bolsec  had  then  re- entered  the  pale  of  the  Romish 
Church,  and  had  conceived  the  blindest  hatred  against 
Calvin.     Let  us  return  to  our  trial. 

The  different  documents   in   the  written   debate, 

*  Such  are  the  reasonings  of  Rilliet.     He  does  not  understand 
the  grounds  of  Calvin's  charge. — Tr. 
f  Bolsec.     Vie  de  Calvin,  chap.  iv. 


174  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

namely,  the  list  of  articles  extracted  from  the  books 
of  Servetus,  his  vindication,  and  the  refutation  by 
Calvin,  were  presented  together  to  the  Council  on 
Tuesday  the  5  th  of  September.  They  contained  the 
essence  of  the  discussion,  as  far  as  regards  the  theolo- 
gical question;  and,  in  that  respect,  serve  as  a  basis 
for  judgment  in  the  written  process.  That  judgment 
behoved  to  be  pronounced  by  the  Swiss  Churches,  to 
which  the  magistrates,  as  we  have  already  mentioned, 
had  decided  to  have  recourse  for  further  light,  even 
before  Servetus  had  expressed  a  desire  for  their  in- 
terposition in  his  trial.  But  the  proposal  to  consult 
them  through  the  medium  of  the  Treasurer,  Claud 
du  Pan,  who  proceeded  to  Switzerland,  having  been 
adopted  at  the  same  sitting,  the  Council  adjourned  the 
consideration,  "  in  order  (says  the  Register)  that  the 
process  may  be  thoroughly  examined,  with  the  said 
articles  and  replies,"  in  order  (history  must  say)  that 
as  the  affair  of  the  excommunication  was  not  yet  ad- 
justed,  they  might  keep  Calvin  by  all  means  in  check. 
The  Lord  Treasurer  was  then  allowed  to  depart  [[from 
the  meeting  of  Council]],  and  other  two  weeks  rolled 
awa}^  before  the  judges  definitely  resolved  to  consult 
the  Churche§  of  Berne,  Bale,  Shaffhausen,  and  Zurich, 
regarding  the  guilt  of  Servetus. 

During  the  interval,  Calvin,  who  foresaw  that  the 
affair  would  be  brought  under  their  notice,  hastened 
to  inform  the  leading  pastors  of  those  Churches  of 
the  state  of  matters;  and  on  the  7th  of  September 
he  wrote  to  Bullinger,  the  leader  of  that  of  Zurich : 
"  In  a  little,  the  Council  will  send  the  opinions  of 


Calvin's  DEPRESSION — letter  from  bullinger.  175 

Servetus  to  obtain  your  advice.  It  is  in  spite  of  U9 
that  they  have  given  you  this  trouble ;  *  but  they  have 
arrived  at  that  pitch  of  madness  and  rage,  that  they 
look  with  suspicion  on  all  that  we  say.  "Were  I  to 
declare  that  it  is  day  at  high-noon,  they  would  imme- 
diately begin  to  doubt  it.  Our  brother  Walther  (the 
son-in-law  of  Bullinger)  will  tell  you  more." 

This  letter  clearly  describes  the  situation  of  Calvin, 
and  his  relation  to  the  Council.  It  shows,  at  the  same 
time,  that  the  appeal  to  the  Churches  proceeded  alto- 
gether from  distrust  of  the  Reformer,  and  a  leaning 
toward  Servetus.  The  latter  was  not  ignorant  of  all 
that;  but  if  he  rested  his  hope  on  such  a  basis,  Calvin, 
discomposed  for  a  little,  soon  hastened  to  overthrow  it, 
though  his  confessions  to  Walther  betray  the  most  pro- 
found discouragement.  The  answer  of  Bullinger,  re- 
ceived a  few  days  thereafter,  proves  it :  "  The  recital  of 
Walther,"  he  says,  "  has  rendered  me  sad  and  restless. 
Do  not  abandon,  I  conjure  you,  a  Church  which  contains 
so  many  excellent  men.  Ever  support  the  cause  of 
the  elect ;  think  of  the  joy  which  your  withdrawment 
would  occasion  to  the  enemies  of  Reform,  and  with 
what  dangers  it  w^ould  be  accompanied  to  the  French 
refugees.  Moreover,  the  Lord  will  not  forsake  you. 
He  has  presented  to  the  very  mighty  Council  of 
Geneva  a  most  favourable  opportunity  to  cleanse  both 
it  and  the  Council  from  the  pollution  of  heresy,  by 
delivering  into  its  hands  the  Spaniard,  Servetus.  If 
they  treat  him  as  he  deserves  for  being  an  impudent 
blasphemer,  the  whole  world  will  declare  that  the 

*  Calvin'fl  words  are,  "  Nobis  quidem  reclamaniilta.'''' 


176  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

Geneyese  abhor  the  impious ;  that  they  pursue,  with 
the  sword  of  justice,  heretics  that  are  really  obstinate; 
and  that  they  thus  maintain  the  glory  of  the  Divine 
Majesty.  At  all  events,  even  though  they  should  not 
act  thus,  you  ought  not,  by  abandoning  that  Church, 
to  expose  it  to  new  misfortunes." 

The  suggestions  of  Bullinger  show  the  extent  of 
Calvin's  dejection;  and  his  letter,  written  after  Wal- 
ther  had  apprized  him  of  the  state  of  feeling  at  Geneva, 
enables  us  'to  perceive  that  the  condemnation  of  Ser- 
vetus  might  then  be  considered  problematical.  For 
this  reason,  Calvin,  who  would  have  preferred  to  pro- 
ceed directly  against  the  Spaniard,  whose  guilt  was 
not  doubtful  in  his  eyes,  endeavoured,  as  soon  as  the 
Council  resolved  to  consult  referees,  to  gain  these  to 
his  opinion,  and  to  induce  them  to  give  sentence  ac- 
cordingly, called  in  as  they  were  in  his  despite.  Hence 
his  letter  to  Bullinger,  by  means  of  which  he  would 
have  influenced  the  Churches  of  Zurich  and  Schaff- 
hausen;  hence,  also,  that  which  he  addressed  two 
days  later  to  Sulzer,  a  pastor  of  the  Church  of  Bale, 
of  whose  support  he  might  have  some  doubt,  because 
it  had  shown  itself  less  strict  and  less  decided  than  he 
desired  in  its  judgment  regarding  Bolsec* 

He,  moreover,  forcibly  pleads  with  Sulzer,  in  order 
to  establish  the  proved  guilt  of  Servetus.  He  asks  him 
to  depict  his  impiety  in  lively  colours,  and  depend  on 
the  testimony  of  the  Treasurer  Du  Pan,  the  bearer  of 

*  Let  Ministres  de  Baleont  envoj^e  leur  reponse  et  nous  avons  vu 
combien  peu  il  fallait  compter  sur  eux. — Calvin  a  Falri,  Nov.  28, 
1552. 


farel's  opinion  and  advice.  177 

the  letter,  "who,"  said  Calvin,  "is  very  well  disposed  in 
this  matter,  and  will  not  shrink  from  the  result  which  we 
desire.  May  it  please  God,"  he  adds,  "  that  your  elder 
disciples  may  be  animated  by  the  same  spirit."  These 
words  betray  the  Reformer's  distrust  of  the  Bernese 
pastors,  with  a  portion  of  whom  he  differed  on  certain 
points  of  doctrine,  while  they  had  professed  principles 
of  great  toleration  in  their  opinions  regarding  Bolsec* 

If  Calvin  suffered  at  the  thought  of  perhaps  not 
meeting  with  sufficient  support  abroad,  he  found  in 
the  sympathy  of  his  friend  Farel,  enough  to  re-encou- 
rage him ;  for  the  keenness  of  the  latter  at  least 
equalled  that  of  Calvin  himself. 

"  This  arrival  of  Servetus  at  Geneva,"  wrote  the 
pastor  of  Neuchatel,  "  is  an  admirable  dispensation  of 
God. — May  he  come  to  repentance,  however  tardy! 
It  will  certainly  be  a  great  marvel  to  see  him  endur- 
ing death  in  a  spirit  of  sincere  conversion,  and  endea- 
vouring to  edify  the  beholders — him  who  has  sought 
to  destroy  so  many  souls!  Yes,  the  judges  will  be 
cruel  and  hostile  to  Christ,  and  the  doctrine  which  is 
according  to  godliness;  they  will  be  the  true  enemies 
of  the  Church,  if  they  continue  insensible  to  the  hor- 
rible blasphemies  by  which  that  execrable  heretic 
assails  the  Divine  Majesty,  endeavours  to  overthrow 
the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  to  corrupt  all  the  Churches. 
But  I  hope  that  God  will  teach  those  who  know  so 
well  to  punish  robbers  and  the  sacrilegious, t  to  act  in 

*  An  extract  of  that  opinion  will  be  found  at  a  subsequent  page. 
+  This  was  one  of  the  strongholds  of  those  who  argued  for  capital 
punishment  in  matters  of  heresy.     You  punish,  they  said,  the  viola- 

M 


178  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

this  matter  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  deserved  appro- 
bation; and  that  they  will  put  the  man  to  death  who 
has  so  obstinately  persisted  in  his  heresies,  and  de- 
stroyed so  large  a  number  of  souls.     Your  desire  to 
mitigate  the  rigour  of  the  punishment,  is  the  service 
of  a  friend  rendered  to  one  who  is  your  mortal  enemy; 
but  I  beseech  you   so  to   act  as   that  no   one   shall 
hereafter  seek,  with  impunity,  to  publish  novel  doc- 
trines, and  to  embroil  us  all  as  Servetus  has  done.   You 
see  that  insolent  heretic,  Jerome  Bolsec,  who,  though 
often  convinced,  has  never  yet  returned  to  reason — 
the  clemency  of  the  judges,  rather  than  equity,  divert- 
ing them  from  their  duty,  has  not  merely  injured  him, 
but  very  many  more."     As  for  the  rest,  nothing  of 
all  this  escapes  you;  but  there  are  some  people  who 
wish  to  let  heretics  escape,  as  if  there  were  no  difference 
between  the  functions  of  a  pastor  and  those  of  a  magis- 
trate.    Because  the  Pope  condemns  the  faithful  for 
the  crimes  of  heresy — because  enraged  judges  subject 
the  innocent  to  the  punishments  which  are  reserved 
for  heretics,  it  is  absurd  to  conclude  that  these  last 
should  not  be  put  to  death,  that  their  impunity  may 

tors  of  man's  law  and  man's  rights — will  you  allow  those  to  escape 
"who  violate  God's,  and  so  make  his  word  of  none  effect  ? — Tr. 

*  In  1547,  Alphonso  a  Castra,  in  his  book  De  Justa  Hereticorum 
Punitione,  said,  like  Farel :  "  If  Martin  Luther,  when  he  began  to 
spread  his  poison,  had  been  put  to  death  as  he  deserved,  we  had  not 
seen  all  these  heresies  spreading  which  now  distract  Germany;  and 
it  would  have  been  better  for  him  to  perish  by  the  sword  or  fire,  than 
deepen  the  just  vengeance  of  God  by  persisting  in  his  errors. — BooJc 
ii.  chap.  12.  [We  have  already  seen  enough  to  show  us  the  har- 
mony that  prevailed  on  this  subject  among  all  the  Churches,  Pro- 
testant as  well  as  Popish. — Tr.] 


OPINIONS  OF  THE  REFORMERS.  179 

be  a  guarantee  to  the  faithful.  For  me,  I  have  often 
declared,  that  I  am  ready  to  die  if  I  have  taught  any- 
thing whatever  contrary  to  sound  doctrine;  and  I  add, 
that  I  would  deserve  the  most  frightful  punishments 
if  I  turned  any  one  aside  from  the  faith  of  Christ.  I 
cannot,  then,  apply  to  others  a  different  rule.*.  .  .  . — 
Neuchatel,  September  8,  1553." 

The  natural  impetuosity  of  Farel  is  conspicuous  in 
this  letter,  and  its  whole  contents  clearly  exhibit  the 
opinions  which  godly  and  sincere  men  then  entertained 
regarding  culpability  in  a  matter  of  faith.  In  the  do- 
main of  Christian  convictions,  they,  without  scruple, 
sacrificed  freedom  of  thought  to  what  they  reckoned 
the  truth — the  rights  of  the  latter,  in  their  minds,  took 
precedence  of  those  of  the  former.  In  their  eyes,  of 
all  crimes  the  most  atrocious  is  the  spiritual  murder 
of  souls,  while  vengeance  should  not  be  left  to  God, 
since  that  would  be,  by  postponing  the  punishment,  to 
increase  and  prolong  the  influence  of  the  evil.  These 
principles,  which  do  not  accord  at  all  with  the  theory 
of  free  inquiry  in  religious  questions,  animated  Calvin, 
and  encouraged  him  to  pursue  Servetus  even  to  the 
utmost. 

But,  for  the  moment,  what  pressed  the  most  was  to 
terminate  the  dispute  that  had  arisen  between  the 
Little  Council  and  the  ministers  on  the  subject  of 
excommunication.  Accordingly,  on  Thursday  the  7th 
of  September,  Calvin  and  his  colleagues  came  to  lay 

*  Perhaps  this  letter  of  Farel  may  be  regarded  as  exhibiting,  in  a 
short  compass,  both  the  strength  and  the  weakness  of  the  cause  which 
he  advocates. — Tr. 


180  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

before  the  magistrates  an  official  complaint,  under  the 
form  of  a  remonstrance  against  the  warrant  granted 
by  them  to  Berthelier.  The  words  of  the  ministers 
were  severe  and  stringent — the  reply  of  the  Coun- 
cil was  sharp — it  said:  "That  the  magistrates  are 
trustworthy;  that  they  have  given  no  occasion  to 
complain  of  them;  and  that  the  ministers  should  not 
return  to  address  them  any  more.  It  is  resolved,  that 
they  must  produce  the  passage  of  the  Edicts  which 
they  pretend  bears  them  out."  The  next  day,  the 
ministers  quoted  the  text  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Ordon- 
nances,  according  to  which,  in  their  opinion,  excom- 
munication depended  solely  on  the  Consistory,  as  a 
religious  body,  and  not  at  all  upon  the  civil  power. 

During  some  days  the  Council,  unable  to  reconcile 
its  sentence  in  favour  of  Berthelier  with  the  letter  of 
the  Edicts,  remained  silent  and  adopted  no  resolution. 
This  silence  irritated  Calvin,  who  wished  their  Lord- 
ships at  once  to  declare  themselves,  that  his  own  con- 
duct might  be  guided  according  to  their  resolution; 
and  he  threatened  to  discontinue  his  functions  as  a 
minister,  unless  they  came  to  a  prompt  decision. 
The  assembled  ministers  then  deputed  to  the  Coun- 
cil, on  Friday  the  15tli  of  September,  James  Ber- 
nard and  Abel  Popin,  who  demanded,  in  name  of 
all,  a  definitive  reply.  The  magistrates  took  three 
days  to  give  it;  "and,  in  the  meantime,"  adds  the 
Eesister,  "  we  must  command  M.  Calvin,  that  while 
waiting  for  that  settlement,  he  must  preach  and  do 
his  duty." 

Calvin  must  therefore  ascend  the  pulpit  on  the 


EVASIONS  OP  THE  COUNCIL.  181 

Lord's-day,  the  17th  of  September,  and  on  iVIonday 
the  Council  passed  a  resolution,  declaring  "that  it 
would  adhere  to  the  Edicts,  as  it  had  hitherto  done." 
This  ambiguous  decision  adjourned  the  debate  without 
closing  it,  since  it  hinged  entirely  on  the  mode  of  inter- 
preting the  Edicts ;  but  it  was  received  by  Calvin  as 
being  rather  favourable  to  his  views.  At  heart,  the  Little 
Council  had  no  object  in  view  but  to  leave  the  whole 
question  undecided,  and  to  wait  for  a  decision  till  the 
ordinary  meeting  of  the  Council  of  Two  Hundred. 
The  apparent  success  of  the  Reformer  was  consequently 
only  of  short  duration;  for,  two  months  thereafter,  the 
Grand  Council  gave  judgment  in  favour  of  the  exe- 
cutive power,  and  solemnly  conceded  to  the  magistrates 
supreme  authority  in  matters  affecting  excommunica- 
tion. But  the  affair  of  Servetus  was  over  when  this 
new  decision  was  given,  and  we  are  not,  therefore, 
called  on  to  consider  it  here.  We  must  return  to  the 
prisoner,  who  was  groaning  in  the  jail,  whilst  the 
question  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  was  discussed  be- 
tween the  magistrates  and  the  ministers. 

Servetus  groaned,  but  it  was  from  impatience  rather 
than  alarm,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  petition  which 
he  addressed  to  the  Council  on  the  1 5th  of  September. 
This  request  forms  a  striking  contrast  with  that  which 
he  had  presented  three  weeks  before,  when  he  thought 
only  of  escaping  from  the  affair  at  any  cost.  It  is 
couched  in  a  spirit  of  retaliation  quite  in  accordance 
with  the  disposition  which  had  animated  him  ever  since 
he  knew  the  critical  position  of  Calvin.  Without  dis- 
guise he  singled  out  the  Reformer  as  his  persecutor, 


182  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

both  as  having  prompted  his  arrestment,  and  prepared 
the  requisition  of  the  pubHc  functionary.  He  reiterated 
the  demand  for  an  advocate,  and  asked  his  trial  to  be 
transferred  to  the  Council  of  Two  Hundred,  to  which  he 
appealed.  This  last  request  further  shows  that  sug- 
gestions had  been  made  to  Servetus  from  without.  A 
stranger  in  Geneva,  it  is  obvious  that  the  existence  of 
the  Two  Hundred  in  the  Republic,  and  above  all,  the 
hostile  feelings  of  the  majority  of  its  members  against 
Calvin,  had  been  made  known  to  him.  His  patrons 
must  have  described  the  success  of  his  appeal  as 
possible ;  he  must,  in  a  word,  have  been  informed  of 
events  transpiring  outside  his  prison  by  some  powerful 
friends.  The  jailer  or  Soudan,  named  Claude  de 
Geneve,  a  member  of  the  Libertine  party,  and 
devoted  to  its  leaders,*  was  probably  the  medium 
by  which  Perrin  and  Berthelier  availed  themselves 
(if  they  were  not  so  employed  in  person)  to  con- 
vey to  Servetus,  whether  for  his  sake  or  their  own, 
directions  which  tended  more  and  more  to  embarrass 
their  common  enemy.  The  petition  necessarily  pre- 
supposes this  collusion.     It  was  thus  conceived  : — 

"  My  Right  Honourable  Lords, — I  very  humbly 
supplicate  that  you  would  be  pleased  to  shorten  these 
long  delays,  or  discharge  me  as  not  guilty.  You  see 
that  Calvin  is  nonplussed,  not  knowing  what  to  say, 
while,  for  his  pleasure,  he  seeks  to  make  me  perish  here 
in  prison.  Fleas  eat  me  alive  ;  my  hose  are  torn ;  and 
I  have  not  wherewith  to  change — neither  doublet,  nor 
shirt,  but  one  that  is  ragged.     I  presented  to  you  an- 

'*  Bonnivard.^  De  1' ancienne,  et  nouvelle  police  de  Geneve. 


SERVETUS  AGAIN  PETITIONS.  183 

other  request,  which  was  a(?bording  to  God,  and  to  coun- 
teract it,  Calvin  has  quoted  Justinian.  Certainly  he 
is  unfortunate  in  citing  against  me  what  he  does  not 
believe  himself.  He  does  not  hold,  does  not  believe, 
what  Justinian  has  said,  De  Sacrosanctis  Ecdesiis, 
De  Episcopis,  et  Clericis,  and  other  things  in  religion, 
and  knows  well  that  the  Church  was  then  cor- 
rupted. It  is  a  great  shame  to  him ;  made  yet 
greater  by  his  keeping  me  five  weeks  so  closely 
shut  up  here,  without  having  alleged  a  single  passage 
against  me. 

"  My  Lords,  I  have  also  asked  an  attorney  or  advo- 
cate, as  you  have  granted  one  to  my  opponent,  who  did 
not  need  him  so  much  as  I,  who  am  a  stranger,  igno- 
rant of  the  customs  of  this  country.  Nevertheless, 
you  have  conceded  one  to  him  and  not  to  me,  and  have 
dismissed  him  from  prison  before  taking  cognizance  of 
the  matter.  I  desire  that  my  case  and  my  petitions  may 
be  referred  to  the  Council  of  Two  Hundred,  and  if 
I  can  appeal  to  it,  I  appeal,  protesting  for  all  expense, 
damage,  and  loss,  et  de  poena  talionis,  both  against  the 
first  accuser,  and  against  Calvin  his  master,  Avho  has 
taken  the  cause  upon  himself. — Done  in  your  prison 
of  Geneva,  the  15th  of  September  1553." 

The  Council  does  not  appear  to  have  been  debarred 
from  examining  the  request  to  transfer  the  process  of 
Servetus  to  the  Council  of  the  Two  Hundred.  During 
the  previous  year  it  had  been  invited  to  submit  all 
criminal  matters  to  the  judgment  of  that  assembly,* 
but  had  not  given  efi'ect  to  that  proposal,  which  im- 
*  Register  of  the  1st  of  March  1552. 


184  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

plied  a  fundamental  changfe  in  the  Edicts,  and  would 
have  denuded  the  Little  Council  of  a  jurisdiction  of 
which  it  was  jealous.  It  also  passed  over  the  demand 
which  the  prisoner  made  for  the  assistance  of  an  advo- 
cate; but  as  to  the  complaints  of  Servetus  regarding 
the  disorder  of  his  wardrobe,  it  was  resolved,  "  that 
they  should  procure  for  him  hose,  and  the  necessary 
garments,  at  his  own  expense."  It  appears,  however, 
that  this  decision  was  not  immediately  obeyed,  either 
because  the  Council  had  neglected  specially  to  charge 
any  one  with  the  duty,  or  because  a  culpable  neglect 
had  led  to  its  being  overlooked  by  him  who  should 
have  fulfilled  it.  At  all  events  Servetus  continued 
some  time  longer  in  a  state  of  sad  deprivation. 

On  the  grounds  laid  down  in  the  process  itself,  the 
Council  decided  that  they  would  communicate  to  the 
prisoner  the  different  documents,  as  written  both  by 
him  and  by  Calvin,  with  permission  to  reply  for  the 
last  time  to  the  answers  of  the  Reformer.  This  com- 
munication was  made  to  Servetus  at  the  bishops'  palace, 
on  the  same  day  (15th  September),  by  the  Ofl&cers  of 
justice. 

Profiting  by  the  permission  granted  to  overthrow 
the  averments  of  Calvin,  the  prisoner  immediately  set 
himself  to  the  task ;  but,  instead  of  preparing  a  con- 
secutive reply,  he  contented  himself  with  placing  on 
the  margin,  and  between  the  lines  of  the  memorial 
subscribed  by  the  ministers,  some  annotations,  by 
turns  explanatory  and  abusive,  in  which  he  corrected 
the  imputations,  or  hurled  invectives  against  Calvin 
more  cutting  still  than  those  of  his  previous  docu- 


INVECTIVES  OP  SERVETUS.  185 

ment.  At  the  same  time,  he  defied  the  Reformer  by 
bravadoes  :  "  Do  you  deny  that  you  are  a  man-slayer? 
I  will  prove  it  by  your  deeds.  For  me,  I  am  firm 
in  so  good  a  cause,  and  do  not  fear  to  die.  You 
howl  like  a  blind  man  in  desert  places,  because 
the  spirit  of  vengeance  burns  in  your  heart.  You 
lie,  you  lie,  you  lie,  you  ignorant  calumniator?  Mad- 
ness is  in  you  when  you  persecute  to  the  death. 
I  wish  that  all  your  magic  were  still  in  the  belly  of  your 
mother,  and  that  I  were  free  to  make  a  catalogue  of 
your  errors.  You  have  all  roared  enough,"  adds  he, 
in  the  sequel  of  his  annotations — "  you  are  a  great 
crowd  of  subscribers,  but  what  passages  have  you 
quoted  to  prove  the  Son  invisible  and  really  distinct? 
None.  Thus  my  doctrine  is  not  met  but  by  your 
clamours.  You  have  opposed  to  it  neither  arguments 
nor  authorities." 

"  M.  Servetus  has  signed  alone,  it  is  true,  but  hav- 
ing Jesus  Christ  for  his  most  assured  protector." 

In  returning,  thus  commented  on,  the  document 
which  had  been  sent  to  him,  Servetus  accompanied  it 
with  a  letter  of  explanation,  addressed  to  the  Council, 
in  which  he  excuses  himself  for  having  "written  on  the 
same  paper  with  Calvin,"  having  done  it  in  order  that 
when  both  sides  were  placed  in  visible  juxtaposition, 
men  might  judge  more  easily,  and  without  confusion,  re- 
garding the  questions  discussed.  He  added  to  his  letter 
two  books,  perhaps  those  of  Tertullian  and  Irenaeus,  to 

*  Calvin  has  not  given  the  closing  passage  in  his  Declaration,  It 
is  found  in  Latin  in  the  bundle  of  papers  relating  to  the  Trial,  in 
the  Archives  of  Geneva. 


186  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

which  he  had  made  references,  for  the  convenience,  he 
said,  of  "  those  who  shall  he  empowered  to  judge  and 
report."  He  asked,  in  conclusion,  that  if  Calvin  made 
any  new  reply,  it  should  be  communicated  to  him. 
The  Council  received  the  packet  sent  by  Servetus  in 
the  same  session  at  which  they  came  to  a  decision  re- 
garding the  observation  of  the  Edicts  in  the  affair  of 
excommunication.  That  was  on  Monday,  the  18th  of 
September. 

The  moment  had  arrived  for  terminating  the  pro- 
cess, both  oral  and  written,  now  carried  on  for  a 
month — as  the  criminal  Edicts  forbade  longer  delay. 
In  consequence  of  this,  the  magistrates  decided  that 
they  would  again  show  to  Calvin  the  answers  of  Ser- 
vetus, but  that  they  would  not  communicate  to  the 
latter  what  Calvin  might  write.  The  Reformer  exa- 
mined the  annotations;  but  did  not  think  it  expe- 
dient to  make  any  reply."  The  process  was  duly 
closed — and  the  debate  between  the  two  theologians 
was  at  an  end.  It  only  remained  to  make  that  use  of 
the  written  documents  which  had  been  resolved  on. 
Ceasing  to  be  a  local  trial,  tlie  cause  of  Servetus  was 
about  to  become  the  affair  of  the  Swiss  Reformation. 

*  Declaration,  p.  1389. 


THE  CLOSING  SCENES.  1  87 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  COUNCIL  APPEALS  TO  THE  SWISS  CHURCHES THEIR 

REPLIES THE  SENTENCE  AND   DEATH   OF  SERVETUS. 

On  Tuesday  the  19th  of  September,  the  Little  Coun- 
cil of  Geneva,  adopting  the  proposal  made  fifteen 
days  before,  resolved  to  write  to  the  Churches  of 
Berne,  Zurich,  Schaffhausen,  and  Bale,  to  ask  their 
opinion  as  to  the  guilt  of  Servetus,  and  to  forward  a 
letter  to  them  by  a  messenger  of  State.  Two  days  were 
requisite  to  copy  the  documents  in  manuscript  ex- 
changed between  Calvin  and  Servetus,  and  it  was 
on  Thursday  the  21st  of  September,  that  Jaquemoz 
Jernoz,  usually  employed  by  their  Lordships  to  carry 
despatches  into  Switzerland,  received  the  circular  let- 
ters addressed  both  to  the  magistrates  and  the  pastors 
of  the  four  cities. 

These  letters  were  accompanied  with  the  documents 
used  in  the  trial.  These  were,  a  copy  of  the  Christian- 
ismi  Restitutio  ^?inoi\iex  of  the  works  of  Tertullian,one  of 
those  of  Irenoeus,  the  articles  extracted  by  Calvin  from 
the  writings  of  Servetus,  his  reply  in  self-defence,  and 
finally,  the  refutation  subscribed  by  all  the  ministers, 


188  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

and  commented  on  by  the  accused.  It  was  from 
these  documents  that  the  Churches  were  asked  to  give 
their  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner.  In  the 
two  circulars,  the  Council  protested  that  they  did  not 
at  all  distrust  the  ministers  of  Geneva,  but  only  were 
anxious  to  obtain  additional  light,  in  submitting  the 
book  of  Servetus  and  his  answers  to  the  scrutiny  of 
other  learned  men,  before  adopting  any  resolution  on 
the  subject.* 

On  the  result  of  this  measure  the  lot  of  Servetus 
obviously  depended,  and  he  was  not  at  all  alarmed. 
On  the  contrary,  his  conduct  in  the  interval  proves 
that  he  was  soothed  with  the  hope  of  gaining  a  victory 
over  Calvin,  or  at  least  of  being  dismissed  without 
bodily  punishment.  This  expectation  was  not  abso- 
lutely unreasonable.  It  was  known  that  Calvin  was  on 
cold  terms  with  the  Church  of  Balet — of  indifference 
with  that  of  Berne  | — it  might  be  hoped  that  the 
principles  of  toleration  in  matters  of  heresy,  held  by 
Zuingle,  would  prevail  at  Zurich;  and  it  is  certain 
that  temperate  answers  would  have  given  the  same 
character  to  the  decree  of  the  Little  Council  of 
Geneva. 

The  hopes  of  Servetus  in  this  respect  went  so 
far  that  he  did  not  hesitate  to  constitute  himself  the 
accuser  of  Calvin,  and,  in  his  turn,  to  raise  a  Criminal 

*  See  these  Letters,  Appendix  E. 

+  Calvini  Epist.  Basil.  Mimstris,  Jan.  1552.  See  also  his  refer- 
ences to  the  subject  in  his  letter  to  Sulzer  of  Bale,  at  a  previous 
page. 

X  Roset  Chroniques,  liv.  v.  ch.  64. 


SERVETUS  INDICTS  CALVIN.  189 

Action  against  the  Reformer,  in  the  bosom  of  his 
prison.  On  the  22d  of  August  he  sought  only  to  be 
banished  from  Geneva.  On  the  22d  of  September 
he  asked  the  Council  to  put  his  adversary  upon 
trial,  and,  like  him,  gave  in  a  list  of  "  Articles  on 
which  M.  Servetus  wishes  J.  Calvin  to  be  interro- 
gated." 

He  there  accuses  Calvin  of  having  falsely  imputed 
to  him  the  opinion  that  the  soul  is  mortal.  "  If  I 
have  said  that — not  merely  said  it,  but  publicly  writ- 
ten it — to  infect  the  world,  I  would  condemn  myself  to 
death.*  Wherefore,  my  Lords,  I  demand  that  ray 
false  accuser  be  punished,  poena  talionis,  and  that  he 
be  detained  a  prisoner  like  me,  till  the  cause  be  decided 
for  his  death  or  mine,  or  other  punishment.  And  to 
accomplish  that,  I  now  lodge  an  accusation  against 
him  for  the  said  poetid  talionis.  And  I  am  content  to 
die  if  he  be  not  convicted  of  these  things,  as  well  as  of 
others  which  I  shall  bring  forward."  In  contradiction 
to  himself,  but  urged  on  by  hatred  against  Calvin, 
Servetus  no  longer  declines  the  civil  jurisdiction  in 
matters  of  theological  opinion,  as  he  had  done  at  a 
former  stage  of  the  trial;  he  even  consents  to  die  for  the 
punishment  of  his  errors,  provided  that  his  rival  were 
exposed,  in  that  respect,  to  the  same  hazard  as  him- 
self. Servetus  was  tossed  between  his  principles  and 
his  antipathies  —  we  observe  this  struggle  even  in 

*  It  will  be  seen  again  that  Servetus,  in  common  -with  his  age, 
held  the  dogma,  that  for  opinions  men  might  be  put  to  death. 
Farel,  in  a  letter  given  before,  has  expressed  a  sentiment  like  that 
of  Servetus  in  the  text. — Tr. 


190  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

the  articles  annexed  to  his  petition,  which  constitute 
the  deed  of  accusation  prepared  hy  him  against 
Calvin. 

Thus,  on  the  one  hand,  he  reproaches  Calvin  with 
having  failed  in  his  duty  as  a  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
in  urging  the  arrestment  of  Servetus  at  Yienne,  ''  be- 
cause the  subject  of  doctrine  is  not  one  for  a  criminal 
accusation;"  but  on  the  other,  he  ranks  "among  the 
great  and  infallible  reasons  why  Calvin  should  be 
condemned,"  the  fact  of  his  wishing  to  "  repress  the 
truth  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  follow  the  doctrine  of  Simon 
Magus,  against  all  the  doctors  that  ever  were  in  the 
Church."  Thus  Calvin,  in  the  process  against  Servetus, 
had  the  disadvantage,  by  making  the  doctrines  of  the 
latter  a  ground  of  charge ;  and  Servetus  had  the  ad- 
vantaofe  ao;ainst  Calvin,  when  he  set  forth  the  doctrines 
of  the  latter  as  a  ground  for  condemnation.  It  is  thus 
that  passion  shows  that  it  can  be  logical :  that  of 
the  accused  was  excited  both  by  the  irritation  M'hich 
the  solitude  of  the  prison-house  fostered,  and  by  the 
prospect  of  speedily  triumphing  over  a  persecutor, 
against  whom,  he  believed,  a  formidable  opposition  was 
seriously  organized. 

«  The  conclusion  of  his  petition  clearly  shows  the  idea 
which  he  entertained  of  Calvin's  position  in  Geneva. 
"  Wherefore,  like  a  magician,  as  he  is,  he  ought  not 
merely  to  be  condemned,  but  to  be  exterminated  and 
hunted  from  your  city;  and  his  goods  ought  to  be  con- 
fiscated to  me  in  return  for  mine,  which  he  has  caused 
me  to  lose ;  which  things,  my  Lords,  I  request  from  you." 
Servetus  thought  he  was  on  the  eve  of  realizing  his 


THE  AIMS  OF  SERVETUS ANOTHER  PETITION.    191 

expectations  and  designs.  Although  passionate,  he  was 
prudent,  and  able  to  observe  passing  events.  He  knew, 
Avhile  these  seemed  adverse,  to  take  in  sail,  and  strike 
his  flag — now  that  they  appear  fiivourable,  he  un- 
masks his  batteries,  and  discharges  all  his  artiller}'. 
To  dislodge  Calvin  from  his  position,  to  expel  him  from 
Geneva,  to  satisfy  a  just  vengeance* — these  were  the 
objects  toward  which  Servetus  rushed,  and  which  he 
thinks  he  will  now  obtain.    But  this  illusion  brin-htened 

o 

the  prisoner's  perspective  only  for  a  few  days ;  and  the 
absolute  silence  of  the  Council  regarding  his  petition 
very  soon  enveloped  his  thoughts  again  in  disquietude 
and  sadness.  To  the  miseries  suggested  by  a  very 
lively  imagination  were  added  the  endurance  of  in- 
jured health,  and  a  profound  despondency  soon  took 
possession  of  that  man  who,  but  an  hour  ago,  appeared 
only  to  challenge  and  menace.  He  then  understood 
that  he  had  not  adopted  the  best  paethod  to  gain  his 
end,  and,  completely  changing  his  tone,  he  addressed 
a  petition  to  the  magistrates,  on  the  10th  of  October, 
as  suppliant  and  melancholy  as  the  former  had  been 
arrogant  and  haughty.     It  was  as  follows  : — 

"  Magnificent  Lords, — It  is  full  three  weeks  since 
I  desired  and  asked  an  audience,  which  I  have  never 
yet  obtained.  I  implore  you,  for  the  love  of  Jesus 
Christ,  not  to  withhold  from  me  what  you  would  not 
refuse  to  a  Turk,  asking  justice  from  you.  I  have 
important  and  very  pressing  things  to  say  to  you. 

"  As  to  your  command  to  furnish  me  with  somethinof 
to  render  me  comfortable,  nothing  has  been  done,  and 
*  Uiie  justs  Vengeance,  Rilliet. — Tr. 


192  CALVIN  AND  SERYETUS. 

I  am  more  wretched  than  ever.  Besides,  the  cold 
torments  me  severely,  in  consequence  of  my  colic  and 
rupture,  which  occasions  other  miseries,  which  I  am 
ashamed  to  describe.  It  is  great  cruelty  that  I  am 
not  permitted  to  speak,  merely  to  relieve  my  necessi- 
ties. For  the  love  of  God,  my  Lords,  either  for  pity 
or  for  duty,  issue  the  order.  Done  in  your  prison  of 
Geneva,  the  10th  of  October,  1553. — M.  Servetus." 
This  appeal  to  the  commiseration  of  the  magistrates 
was  more  in  favour  of  Servetus  than  his  libel  against 
Calvin.  After  having  heard  his  petition,  the  Council 
resolved  that  the  Lord  Syndic,  Darlod,  and  the  Se- 
cretary of  State,  Claude  Roset,  should  visit  the  pri- 
soner, to  hear  what  he  had  to  communicate.  It 
decided  further,  that  the  Syndic  Darlod  should  cause 
to  be  made  for  him  those  articles  of  dress  that  were 
necessary  to  defend  him  from  the  grievances  of  which 
he  complained.  This  twofold  decision  shows  that  the 
Council  had  not,  even  then,  determined  beforehand  to 
condemn  Servetus,  and  that  a  majority  had  not  yet  irre- 
vocably taken  part  against  him.  The  nature  of  the 
proposals  made  by  the  accused  to  the  commissioners  of 
the  magistracy  remains  unknown;  but  whatever  they 
Avere,  they  must  have  had  very  little  influence  on  the 
mind  of  the  Council  which  had  decided  to  take  the 
opinions  of  the  Helvetic  Churches  for  its  chief  guide 
in  the  affair.  Hence  we  nowhere  find  any  trace  of  the 
result  that  followed  the  conference  between  the  prisoner 
and  the  deputies  of  the  Council.  It  is  probable  that  it 
turned  on  the  points  already  often  discussed  by  Ser- 
vetus, and  that  his  endeavour  was  rather  to  ascertain 


THE  ANSWER  FROM  BERNE.         193 

the  mind  of  the  magistrates,  than  to  convey  any  new 
intelligence. 

In  the  meantime,  the  messenger  of  State  charged  to 
carry  the  documents  in  the  trial  to  the  Churches  of 
Switzerland,  had  successively  visited  those  of  Berne, 
Zurich,  Schaffhausen,  and  Bale,  sojourning  in  each 
city  long  enough  to  enable  the  pastors  to  examine 
the  papers,  and  embody  their  sentiments.    The  journey 
of  Jaquemoz  Jernoz  lasted  nearly  a  month;  for  it 
was  only  on  the   18th  of  October  that  he  brought 
back  to  the  Council  the  answers  of  the  pastors  and 
magistrates  of  the  four  cities.     Their  translation  was 
immediately  ordered;  and  on  the  second  day  thereafter, 
Friday  the  20th  of  October,  the  magistrates  having 
briefly  examined  their  contents,  and  heard  Servetus 
himself  in  his  observations,  they  resolved  to  adjourn 
the  discussion  of  the  affair,  for  the  sake  of  still  more 
thorough  examination.     One  sees  that  their  Lordships 
wished  to  proceed  without  urgency  or  precipitation, 
and  to  follow  to  the  very  close,  the  calm  and  regular 
procedure  from  which  they  never  once  had  swerved. 

The  Churches  were  unanimous  in  the  judgment 
which  they  pronounced  on  the  theological  guilt  of 
Servetus;  and  in  the  testimonies  of  affection  and  con- 
fidence which  they  gave  to  Calvin  and  his  colleagues. 
That  of  Berne,  which  was  the  first  consulted,  besides 
blaming  the  heresies  of  Servetus,  condemned  also  his 
pride  and  his  want  of  modesty.  "  In  effect,"  it  said, 
"he  has  reckoned  himself  free  to  call  in  question  all  the 
essential  points  of  our  religion,  wholly  to  overthrow  it 
by  new  explanations,  and  utterly  to  corrupt  it  by 


194  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

reviving  the  poison  of  the  ancient  heretics/' — The  Re- 
formed accuse  Servetus  just  as  Rome  accuses  the 
Reformed !  As  to  the  measures  to  be  adopted  against 
him,  "  We  pray  the  Lord,"  said  the  pastors  of  Berne, 
*'that  he  may  give  you  a  spirit  of  prudence,  and 
counsel,  and  strength,  that  you  may  put  your  own 
and  other  Churches  beyond  the  reach  of  this  pest; 
and  that,  in  the  meantime,  you  may  do  nothing 
which  might  appear  unseemly  in  a  Christian  magis- 
trate." 

Two  years  earlier,  in  1551,  the  same  Church  of 
Berne,  addressing  itself  to  that  of  Geneva,  which  had 
denounced  the  theological  errors  of  Bolsec,  replied : 
"  The  more  we  reflect  on  it,  the  more  are  we  con- 
vinced that  it  is  not  necessary  to  proceed  with  too 
much  severity  against  those  who  are  in  error,  lest 
in  seeking,  at  all  hazards,  to  maintain  purity  of  doc- 
trine, we  come  short  of  the  measure  of  the  Spirit  of 

Christ Christ  loves  the  truth — but  he  also 

loves  souls,  even  when  they  go  astray "We 

approve  of  your  zeal  in  maintaining  the  truth — at  the 
same  time  we  conjure  you  to  reflect  how  much  better 
we  may  reclaim  men's  minds  by  gentleness  than  by 

rigour To  come  to  the  subject  of  debate  between 

you  and  Jerome  Bolsec,  you  know  well  that  many 
respectable  minds  find,  in  passages  of  Scripture,  suf- 
ficient reason  for  refusing  to  assent  to  the  doctrine  of 
divine  predestination.  Should  not  that  make  you  ten- 
der towards  him  ? "We  pray  the  Lord  to  grant 

you  a  mind  always  ready  to  guide  back  those  who 
have  wandered,  and  that  he  would  ec[ually  bend  the 


THE  ANSWER  FROM  ZURICH.  1  95 

heart  of  your  adversary,  that  with  one  consent  you 
may  proclaim  His  glory  to  the  edification  of  the 
Church."  The  guilt  of  Servetus  must  needs  have 
heen  very  apparent  in  the  eyes  of  the  Bernese  pastors, 
to  occasion  a  difference  so  complete  between  their  two 
replies.* 

The  Church  of  Zurich  replied  at  greater  length 
than  any  of  the  others,  and  dwelt  chiefly  on  the  theolo- 
gical question,  to  prove  that  Servetus  was  at  once  a 
blasphemer  and  a  heretic.  More  than  any  of  the  rest, 
it  insisted  also  on  the  necessity  of  doing  Calvin  justice 
against  Servetus;  and  while  noticing  the  manner  in 
which  it  defended  the  Reformer  from  the  heretic's 
attacks,  we  are  reminded  that  Bullirger  had  been  par- 
ticularly informed  of  the  position  of  parties  in  Geneva, 
and  of  the  embarrassment  which  the  faction  occasioned 
to  the  Reformer  by  means  of  Servetus.  "  We  hope," 
said  the  letter,  "  that  the  faith  and  zeal  of  Calvin,  your 
pastor  and  our  brother — that  his  noble  devotion  to  the 
refugees  and  pious  men  will  be  sufficiently  clear  not  to 
be  eclipsed,  either  with  your  Lordships,  or  upright  peo- 
ple, by  the  worthless  charges  of  that  man.  Against 
the  latter,"  added  the  pastors  of  Zurich,  "  we  think 
you  ought  to  manifest  much  faith  and  much  zeal, 
especially  because  .our  Churches  have,  abroad,  the  evil 

*  The  Church  of  Berne  made  a  distinction  hetween  essentialg 
and  accessories — hetween  an  error  which  may  be  held  and  yet  the 
soul  be  safe,  and  an  attempt  to  tear  up  by  the  roots  the  hopes  of 
lost  sinners.  The  former,  in  the  opinion  of  the  Bernese,  was  the 
error  of  Bolsec — the  latter  the  heresy  of  Servetus,  and  hence  the 
difference  in  their  opinions  as  expressed  in  1551  and  in  1553. — 
Tr. 


196  CALVIN  AND  SERTETUS. 

reputation  of  being  heretical,  and  favourable  to  heresy. 
But  the  holy  providence  of  God  offers  to  you  at  this 
hour  an  opportunity  of  freeing  yourselves  and  us 
from  that  injurious  suspicion,  if  you  know  how  to  be 
vigilant  and  active  in  preventing  the  further  spreading 
of  that  poison.  We  do  not  doubt  but  that  your  Lord- 
ships will  act  thus." 

These  words  appear  to  leave  little  doubt  as  to  the 
doom  which  the  Church  of  Zurich  wished  for  Servetus. 
Its  reply  was  entirely  concurred  in  by  the  Church  of 
Schaffhausen,  which  thus  expressed  itself  on  the  latter 
point :  "  We  do  not  question  but  that  you  will  re- 
press the  attempt  of  Servetus,  according  to  your  praise- 
worthy prudence,  in  order  that  his  blasphemies  may 
not  waste  like  a  gangrene  the  members  of  Christ; 
for,  to  engage  in  long  reasonings  to  overthrow  his 
errors,  would  be  to  go  mad  with  a  fool." 

Finally,  the  Church  of  Bale,  the  last  consulted, 
rejoiced  to  see  Servetus  in  the  hands  of  the  magistrates 
of  Geneva,  because  "  it  was  persuaded  that  they  would 
not  fail,  either  in  Christian  prudence  or  in  the  zeal 
of  saints,  to  remedy  an  evil  which  had  already  led  to 
the  ruin  of  many  souls."  In  their  eyes,  the  theo- 
logical guilt  of  Servetus,  sufficiently  proved  by  the 
answer  of  Zurich,  was  aggravated  by  the  obstinacy 
and  pride  with  which  he  persisted  in  his  errors,  in  spite 
of  the  reflections  which  his  imprisonment  and  the 
instructions  of  the  ministers  of  Geneva  ought  to  have 
produced.  The  pastors  of  Bale  concluded  thus: 
"  Finally,  we  exhort  you  to  employ  all  proper  means 
to  reclaim  him,  that  if  possible  you  may  at  the  same 


THE  ANSWER  FROM  BALE.  197 

time  counteract  the  scandals  he  has  occasioned.  But 
if  he  show  himself  to  be  incurably  wedded  to  his  per- 
verse opinions,  check  him  according  to  your  office, 
and  the  power  which  you  hold  from  God,  so  that  he 
may  never  more  be  able  to  trouble  the  Church  of 
Christ,  and  that  the  end  may  not  be  worse  than  the 
beginning.  The  Lord  grant  you,  for  that  purpose,  his 
Spirit  of  power  and  of  wisdom." 

We  here  perceive  that  none  of  the  Churches  ex- 
pressly names  the  nature  of  the  punishment  which 
should  be  inflicted  on  Servetus,  and  we  cannot,  from 
their  language,  affirm  or  deny  that  they  desired  perpe- 
tual imprisonment  rather  than  the  last  punishment — 
death.  Had  they  explicitly  declared  their  mind,  they 
would  have  been  dictating  the  sentence  of  the  Council 
of  Geneva,  and  encroaching,  in  some  degree,  upon  its 
jurisdiction.  It  was,  then,  with  design  that  they 
abstained  from  framing  a  resolution  when  they  were 
only  asked  advice.  They  counselled,  but  did  not 
judge. 

The  Governments  of  Berne  and  Zurich  did  the 
same.  Not  having  the  power  to  impose  on  a  sovereign 
State  the  precise  decision  which  it  ought  spontaneously 
to  adopt,  they  expressed  themselves  in  general  terms : 
"  You  will  not,"  said  the  Council  of  Zurich,  "  allow 
the  wicked  and  pernicious  design  of  your  said  prisoner 
to  be  accomplished;  for  it  is  utterly  contrary  to 
the  Christian  religion,  and  occasions  great  scandal 
and  attacks."  The  Magistrates  of  Berne,  on  their 
part,  wrote :  "  We  beseech  you — as  we  do  not  doubt 
you  are  disposed — always  to  take  care  that  errors  and 


198  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

sects  like  those  mentioned  be  not  disseminated  in  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  only  Saviour/'* 

The  mind  of  the  Bernese  Council,  which  is  not 
here  plainly  expressed,  is  made  clear  by  a  letter  from 
Haller  to  Bullinger,  in  which  the  pastor  of  Berne 
declares  that  the  errors  of  Servetus  had  excited  so 
much  indignation  among  the  magistrates  there,  that, 
beyond  a  question,  if  the  heretic  had  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  Bernese  justice,  he  would  have  been  con- 
demned to  the  flames.  Haller  adds,  that  the  Magi- 
strates of  Berne  had  seriously  exhorted  the  Council  of 
Geneva  to  remove  that  scourge,  that  their  own  terri- 
tory might  not  be  infected.  It  was,  in  fact,  this 
advice  of  the  Bernese  Government,  more  precisely  ex- 
pressed, no  doubt,  than  in  their  official  letter,  which, 
Calvin  asserts  in  two  places,t  exercised  the  greatest 
influence  on  the  judges  of  Servetus.  What  the  sug- 
gestions of  the  Clergy  would,  perhaps,  not  have  obtain- 
ed from  a  reluctant  majority — although  the  severity  of 
the  Churches  must  have  derived  additional  weight 
from  the  moderation  which  they  had  shown  regarding 
Bolsec — political  influence  accomplished.  The  Council 
of  Geneva  had  still  too  much  the  habit  of  yielding  to 
the  directions  of  that  of  Berne,  to  refuse  a  sentence 
which  they  prompted,  though  it  was  more  with  a  view 
to  their  government,  and  as  a  matter  of  policy,  than 
from  purely  theological  motives. 

Still  the  nature  of  the  sentence  was  uncertain  to  the 

*  See  Appendix  F,  for  the  letters  of  the  four  Churches. 
■f  Epist.  Calvini  atFarellum,  26th  October  1553,  ad  Bern.  Mini- 
stroi,  29th  December  1553. 


THE  COUNCIL  VISITS  SERYETUS  IN  PRISON.        199 

last  moment,  and  the  Council  was  so  much  divided  at 
this  juncture,  that,  at  a  meeting  on  Monday  the  23d 
of  October,  after  having  examined,  by  a  careful  per- 
usal, the  replies  of  the  four  Churches,  it  could  not 
even  then  arrive  at  a  definitive  decision.  What  further 
contributed  to  delay  the  sentence  was  the  absence  of 
the  Chief  Syndic,  Perrin,  who  feigned  sickness,*  and 
that  of  many  other  councillors,  both  enemies  and 
friends  of  Calvin — withheld,  no  doubt,  by  the  desire 
to  profit,  each  in  his  own  sense  of  the  term,  by  a  new 
adjournment.  To  prevent  the  renewal  of  such  delays, 
and  to  make  sure  of  the  completion  of  this  protracted 
business,  the  councillors  present  resolved  to  proceed 
once  more  to  examine  the  prisoner;  then  to  put 
him,  for  the  sake  of  precaution,  under  the  special 
guard  of  an  officer  charged  to  answer  for  him;  and, 
finally,  to  assemble  all  the  members  of  Council,  on 
the  faith  of  their  oath,  to  assist,  on  Thursday  the  26th 
of  October,  at  the  definitive  sentence  on  Servetus, 

In  virtue  of  this  decision,  the  Council  went  to  the 
prison,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  23d  of  October;  and 
after  having,  according  to  the  minutes,  "  heard  the 
answers  formerly  given" — that  is  to  say,  the  reading 
of  the  previous  examinations — "  and  the  resolution 
adopted  that  day" — that  is  to  say,  the  resolution  passed 
that  morning  by  the  Council — "along  with  the  opinions 
of  the  ministers  of  the  Churches" — that  is  to  say,  the 
answers  of  the  Swiss  pastors — "  they  have  appointed 
the  said  Michael  Servetus  to  wait  till  he  learn  the  good 

*JEjiist,  CaZv,  ad  FarelL,  26th  October  1553. 


200  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

pleasure  of  the  magistrates"* — that  is  to  say,  they 
granted  to  the  accused  a  brief  delay  before  signifying 
the  final  sentence  of  their  Lordships.  He  was  left 
under  the  custody  of  Jehanton  Gerod,  a  sheriff,  and 
Peter  Coste^  of  the  Council  of  Sixty;  probably  to  pre- 
Yent  the  attempts  which  the  jailer  Claude  de  Geneve, 
■who,  we  have  said,  was  in  the  confidence  of  Perrin, 
and  an  enemy  of  the  Calvinists,  might  have  planned 
in  his  favour. 

In  the  meantime,  the  adherents  of  Servetus  had  not 
increased;  and  his  trial  had  not  acquired  that  impor- 
tance which  has  since  attached  to  it.  Some  voices 
had  been  raised  since  his  imprisonment,  protesting,  in 
the  name  of  liberty,  against  his  trial,  t  They  belonged 
chiefly  to  the  theological  opponents  of  Calvin,  who 
sought  to  weaken  his  influence  with  the  Swiss  Churches 
where  they  lived,  J  but,  as  we  have  seen,  without  suc- 
cess. In  Geneva  itself,  the  question  of  principle  had 
been  openly  advocated  by  an  Italian  lawyer  named 
Gribaldo,  who  was  an  exile  on  account  of  his  religion, 
and  who  wished  at  once  to  defend  the  opinions  of 
Servetus  and  the  cause  of  toleration;  but  being  dis- 
owned by  the  Italian  congregation  (where,  however, 
some  Antitrinitarians  had  begun  to  appear)  and  by 
Calvin,  he  had  quitted  the  city.)!  Some  other  Re- 
formers, though  sincerely  attached  to  Calvinistic  doc- 

*  "  L'on  a  remis  le  diet  inquys  M.  Servetus  a  ouir  la  bonne  volonte 
de  mess",  et  a  dire  droit  de  jour  a  jour."  - 

'I'  See  the  words  of  Zebedee,  pastor  of  Noyon,  in  Hundeshagen, 
Conflikte,  U.  S.  W.,  p.  282. 

X  Beza,  De  Haereticis  Puniendis,  pp.  4,  55. 

II  Trecksel,  Die  Protest.  Antitrinitarier^  p.  254.  | 


THE  INDIFFERENCE  OP  THE  GENEVESE.  201 

trine,  yet  felt  a  very  strong  repugnance  to  the  employ- 
ment of  capital  punishment  in  matters  of  heresy; 
for  it  appeared  to  them  at  once  dangerous  and  un- 
reasonable to  use  the  same  weapons  which  seemed 
so  odious  when  employed  by  Popish  hands.* 

But  whateyer  were  the  motives  of  that  opposition 
to  the  condemnation  of  Servetus,  the  number  of  op- 
ponents was  very  limited;  and  though  they  might 
wish,  they  could  not  expect,  that  reason  would  prevail 
over  custom.  The  resistance  might  have  been  stronger 
had  Servetus  enjoyed  any  popularity  at  Geneva ;  but 
it  does  not  appear  that  his  connection  with  the  heads 
of  the  Libertine  party  had  acquired  for  him  any  great 
favour  among  the  masses,  who  were  unacquainted  with 
him.  He  was  a  tool  which  the  leaders  wished  to 
employ  for  their  own  ends — not  one  of  the  heroes  on 
whose  account  men  rise  into  enthusiasm.  Besides, 
the  party  of  the  Genevese  people  who  were  hostile 
to  Culvin,  continued  unconcerned  amid  the  discussion, 
which  was  followed  out  and  concluded  in  a  higher 
region  than  theirs.  It  would  have  excited  their  atten- 
tion, had  Servetus  attracted  their  sympathies — it  met 
with  nothing  but  indifference,  because  it  was  no 
business  of  theirs.  Feeling  was  not  excited,  except 
among  the  combatants  themselves,  who,  on  either  side, 
estimated  aright  the  importance  of  the  struggle,  and 
their  interest  behoved  to  increase  with  the  uncertainty 
of  the  issue. 

Calvin,  however,  did  not  appear  to  be  disquieted. 

*  Declaration,  p.  1321  j  Beza,  ubi  sicpra,  p.  208. 


202  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

Being  informed  as  to  the  tenor  of  the  letters  received 
from  Switzerland,  he  trusted  to  the  effect  -which  they 
must  produce  upon  the  mind  of  the  judges;  and  he 
affirms,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  that  he  sought  to 
exert  no  influence  upon  them  to  obtain  a  sentence 
of  death  against  Servetus.  He  wrote  on  the  subject 
to  Bullinger,  on  the  25th  of  October :  "  It  is  not 
known  what  shall  happen  to  this  person.  I  conjec- 
ture, however,  that  his  sentence  will  be  pronounced 
in  the  Council  to-morrow,  and  that  the  next  day  he 
will  be  led  to  punishment."  The  conjectures  of  the 
Reformer  were  right. 

The  sitting  of  the  26th  of  October  closed  with  a 
decree  condemning  Servetus  to  death — adopted  after  a 
stormy  discussion.  The  Council,  solemnly  convened, 
was  nearly  full.  Amied  Perrin  presided,  and  he  made 
a  last  but  useless  effort  in  favour  of  his  protege.  He 
at  first  insisted  that  he  should  be  declared  innocent, 
and  discharged  as  acquitted.  This  absolution  was 
equivalent  to  the  exile  of  Calvin,  and  the  Chief  Syndic 
w  ould  have  been  too  happy  indirectly  to  provoke  to 
that  result,  which  would  have  secured  a  permanent 
triumph  for  himself  and  his  party  in  Geneva,  when 
delivered  from  the  Reformer.  The  prospect  of  this 
must  have  excited  his  eloquence;  but  nevertheless  he 
was  baffled.  Then,  falling  back  on  another  alternative, 
he  proposed  that  the  case  should  be  transferred  to  the 
Council  of  Two  Hundred,  as  Servetus  had  already  de- 
manded. Perrin  knew  that  before  that  assembly,  in 
general  hostile  to  Calvin,  he  would  more  easily  obtain 
what  the  Little  Council  refused.     But  this  proposal 


THE  STATE  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES.  20 

was  rejected  like  the  other,  from  which  it  did  not 
essentially  differ. 

The  Government  of  Geneva  was  then  composed  of 
men  belonging  to  the  two  extreme  parties,  and  of 
magistrates  who  occupied  an  intermediate  position. 
Perrin  had  in  it  adherents  ever  ready  to  vote  with 
him;  Calvin  counted  upon  friends  disposed  to  support 
him  by  their  influence — consequently  it  was  the  neutral 
councillors  that  caused  the  balance  to  incline  to  the 
one  side  or  the  other.  Without  being  as  openly  hostile 
to  the  Reformer  as  the  Perrinists,  they  were  much  less 
attached  to  him  than  their  other  colleagues  were ;  and 
they  made  that  plain  a  month  thereafter,  in  the  pro- 
posal regarding  the  right  of  excommunication.  But 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that,  when  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced against  Serve tus,  where  the  keenest  adversaries 
of  the  Reformer  were  not  present,  except  Perrin,  whilst 
not  a  Calvinist  councillor  was  absent,''*  these  masters 
of  the  majority  were  less  occupied  about  what  might 
promote  or  thwart  the  wishes  of  Calvin,  than  with 
what  menaced  the  vital  interests  of  the  Reformed 
cause.  They  had  not  so  eagerly  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  Captain-General  as  to  forget  that  of  the  Re- 
public. The  unanimity  of  the  Swiss  Churches  in 
condemning  Servetus — his  attacks  against  doctrines 

*  There  were  present  at  the  meeting  of  the  26th  of  October, 
Perrin,  De  Chapeaurouge,  Darlod,  Desfosses,  Philippin,  Chamoie, 
Chaultems,  Malagnyod,  Beney,  Rigot,  Delarche,  C.  Vandel,  Sept. ; 
Botellier,  Coma,  Bonna,  Aubert,  Jesse,  Du  Pan,  and  Lambert. 
The  last  seven  were  decided  Calvinists;  the  minority  was  probably 
composed  of  Perrin,  Philippin,  Malagnyod,  C.  Vandel,  Sept.  There 
were  absent  Chicand,  Des  Arts,  Du  MoUard,  P.  Vandel,  Favre. 


204  CALVIN  AND  SERVETIIS. 

till  then  held  sacred  in  every  communion,  among 
others,  against  the  Trinity  and  the  baptism  of  infants 
— his  condemnation  at  Vienne  as  an  impious  blas- 
phemer— the  promises  of  justice  given  to  the  magis- 
trates of  that  city — the  exhortations  to  severity  re- 
ceived from  those  of  Zurich  and  Berne — the  troubles 
which  the  partisans  of  novel  opinions  had  already 
produced  in  the  Churches  of  the  Reformation — all 
these  contributed  to  separate  the  guilt  of  Servetus 
from  his  rivalry  with  Calvin  in  the  minds  of  the  judges, 
and  to  make  them  forget  the  theologian  to  think  only 
of  the  criminal.* 

In  fact,  the  heresy  of  Servetus  had  assumed,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Council  of  Geneva,  the  twofold  character  of 
blasphemy  and  sedition.  It  was  at  once  the  outraged 
honour  of  God  and  the  peace  of  society  that  they  be- 
lieved themselves  to  be  defending,  while  they  punished 
him.  The  intimate  union  that  existed  in  the  State 
between  religion  and  politics,  led  men  to  regard  in  the 
same  light  errors  which  assailed  the  former,  and  deeds 
which  violated  the  principles  of  the  latter.  In  both, 
men  saw  a  revolt  against  the  established  constitution, 
and  by  consequence  a  crime.  The  purely  theological 
quarrel  disappeared  before  this  motive  for  condemn- 
ing; and  the  judicial  sentence,  in  the  list  of  charges 
brought  against  Servetus,  does   not   mention  at  all 

*  It  will  be  seen  from  the  text  how  little  influence  Calvin  exerted 
in  the  final  deed  regarding  Servetus.  The  Reformer,  according  to 
Rilliet,  was  not  merely  not  the  instigator — he  was  not  even  consulted 
— he  was  overlooked;  and  Rillet,  who  has  brought  this  fact  to  light, 
has  examined  all  the  existent  documents  with  the  dispassionate 
accuracy  of  a  judge. — Tr. 


GROUNDS  OP  THE  COUNCIL'S  SENTENCE.    205 

either  the  attacks  against  Calvin  or  those  against  the 
ministers  of  Geneva.  The  question  did  not  relate  to 
controversies  originating  in  the  schools — it  referred  to 
the  attack  made  "  on  the  true  foundations  of  the 
Christian  religion."  The  magistracy  being  once 
thoroughly  convinced,  by  the  unprejudiced  advice  of 
the  Helvetic  Churches,  that  the  opinions  of  Servetus 
implied  something  more  than  a  mere  dissent  from 
Calvin,  and  that  they  were  most  certainly  pernicious 
to  religion,  the  principles  of  public  order,  as  then 
imderstood,  did  not  permit  them  longer  to  hesitate  as 
to  whether  or  not  they  should  see  in  them  the  crime 
of  treason  against  society. 

Besides,  the  Council  was  urged  towards  that  convic- 
tion by  considerations  of  expediency.  It  was  impor- 
tant not  to  allow  a  Reformed  Church  to  be  exposed  to 
the  suspicion  of  conniving  at  opinions  reckoned  blas- 
phemous by  the  whole  of  Christendom.  It  concerned 
them  as  much,  as  magistrates,  not  to  favour  the  propa- 
gation of  doctrines  reputed  seditious,  and  troublesome 
to  the  peace  of  the  people.  The  Reformed,  after  having 
profited  by  the  benefits  of  liberty,  to  secure  for  them- 
selves new  beliefs  and  new  institutions,  had  come,  in 
their  turn,  to  dread  the  dissolving  influence  of  that  very 
freedom,  as  soon  as  their  new  system  was  matured. 

As  to  the  right  to  inflict  punishment  for  the  excess 
of  religious  opinion,  and  to  chastise  impiety,  that  was 
never  a  question  in  the  mind  of  the  magistrate.  In 
condemning  Servetus  and  his  doctrines,  the  Council 
of  Geneva  did  not  think  that  it  was  doing  aught  more 
strange  than  in  declaring  Berthelier  capable  of  receiving 


206  CALTIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

the  communion.*  In  principle,  if  not  in  fact,  both 
decisions  ought  to  be  distinctly  placed  in  the  same 
rank;  and  they  are  both  sufl&ciently  explained  by  the 
confusion  which  existed  in  the  constitution  of  the 
Kepublic,  between  the  temporal  and-  ecclesiastical  do- 
mains. Besides,  the  Codes  of  Theodosius  and  Justi- 
nian, appealed  to  by  the  Attorney-General,  the  Im- 
perial Constitutions  which  had  helped  to  form  the 
usages  in  criminal  jurisprudence, t  and  the  claims  to 
all  power  on  the  part  of  the  body-politic,  would  have 
helped  to  remove  scruples  regarding  the  competency 
of  the  civil  magistrate,  had  any  existed.  These 
scruples  did  not  arise  in  any  country,  except  in  some 
rare  exceptions,  till  long  after  this  epoch;  and  Mon- 
tesquieu, in  some  degree  justifies  the  Council  of 
Geneva,  when  he  writes,  two  ages  thereafter :  "  I 
have  not  said  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  punish  heresy; 
I  have  only  said  that  it  is  necessary  to  be  very  cir- 
cumspect in  punishing  it."  J  We  have  seen  Servetus 
himself  acknowledging  that  principles  subversive  of 
religion  should  necessitate  the  death  of  their  author. 
In  the  eyes  of  Genevese  justice,  his  own  opinions  were 
of  that  nature.  Hence  he  had  in  some  degree,  by 
anticipation  subscribed  his  own  condemnation. 

One  might,  without  doubt,  deny  that  a  just  esti- 

*  This  sentence  shows  that  Erastianism  is  intimately  allied  to 
persecution ;  nay,  grant  that  the  former  may  be  tolerated  in  the 
Church,  and  persecution  is  its  native  result. — Tr. 

♦f"  These  Codes  and  Constitutions  pronounced  the  pain  of  death 
against  heresy.  See  iticAfer— Lehrbuch  des  Kirchenrechts,  1842, 
§205. 

X  Esprit  des  Lois^  livre  xii.  chap.  5." 


ERASTIANTSM  A  CAUSE  OF  THE  SENTENCE.        207 

mate  of  his  position  had  been  fonned ;  but  from  the 
moment  that  a  jury  so  competent  as  the  Churches 
and  Governments  of  Switzerland  had  pronounced  Ser- 
vetus  a  blasphemer,  and  seditious,  there  was  nothing 
to  object,  according  to  the  opinions  of  the  age,  to 
the  application  of  capital  punishment.*      This  was 
not  the  first  time  that  the  Genevese  judges  had  pro- 
nounced it  in  similar  cases — I  mean  similar  in  their 
eyes.     In  1547,  James  Gruet,  a  citizen,  had  been  be- 
headed as  one  guilty  of  an  attempt  against  society,  on 
account  of  his  impious  doctrines.     Hence,  as  soon  as 
Servetus  was  regarded  by  a  majority  of  the  Council 
as  a  sworn  enemy  of  religion,  and,  consequently,  of 
the  public  peace,  it  was  of  no  importance  as  to  his 
condemnation  or  acquittal,  to  know  whether  Calvin 
would  be  more  or  less  satisfied  with  the  one  decision 
or  the  other.     Local  considerations  disappeared  before 
the  general  interest;  or  if  they  had  any  influence,  it 
was  to  make  the  Council  comprehend  that  after  hav- 
ing punished  the  heretic,  they  would  be  placed  in 
better   cirtumstances   for  resisting  the   ecclesiastical 
pretensions  of  the  Reformer.t 

Hence  the  fruitless  effort  of  Perrin,  dictated   by 
passion  rather  than  toleration — hence  the  final  deci 

*  What  Rousseau  said  in  1763  applies  equally  to  the  year  1553  : 
"  As  there  are  not  at  Geneva  penal  laws,  properly  so  called,  the 
magistrate  punishes  crimes  arbitrarily." — Lettres  ecrites  de  la  Mon- 
tague.    Let.,  v.,  Note  i. 

*f"  In  this  point  of  view,  the  execution  of  Servetus,  far  from  being 
the  result  of  Calvin's  influence,  was,  in  fact,  a  step  taken  to  help 
forward  the  setting  up  of  that  Erastianism  against  which  he  con- 
tended till  his  dying  day. — Tr; 


208  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

sion  of  the  Council,  inscribed  in  these  words  in  the 
Registers : — 

"  Veu  le  sommaire  du  proces  de  Michiel  Servet, 
prisonnier,  le  rapport  de  ceux  esquelz  on  a  consultez, 
et  considere  ses  grands  erreurs  et  blasfemes — est  este 
arreste,  II  soyt  condamne  a  estre  mene  en  Champel, 
et  la  bruslez  tout  vifz,  et  soit  exec[uute  a  demain  et 
ses  livres  brusles."* 

Viewed  by  our  consciences,  which  the  very  faults 
of  the  past  have  enlightened,  this  sentence  is  odious — 
it  was  just^  according  to  law.  In  returning  it,  the 
judges  believed  they  were  fulfilling  a  duty;  so  that  it 
is  not  from  them,  j"  it  is  from  their  age  that  we  must 
demand  an  account  of  that  lamentable  error.  We  shall 
be  excused  if  we  do  not  employ  words  of  condemna- 
tion here,  which,  in  our  day,  would  be  only  to  declaim. 
These  aberrations  of  our  race  inspire  us,  if  we  may 
say  it,  rather  with  humiliation  on  its  account  than 
with  pride  on  our  own;  and  as  to  those  whcfse  position 
rendered  them  the  instruments  of  such  cruel  preju- 
dices, we  must,  before  condemning  them,  be  sure  that 
in  their  place  we  would  not  have  acted  as  they  did. 
Let  us  deplore  their  sentence  without  attacking  their 
intentions;  for  we  could  not  do  so  except  by  profit- 

*  "  Having  examined  the  abstract  of  the  trial  of  M.  Servetus, 
prisoner,  the  report  of  those  whom  we  have  consulted,  and  consi- 
dered his  grand  errors  and  blasphemies,  it  is  thus  decreed  :  Let  him 
be  condemned  to  be  led  to  Champel,  and  there  burned  alive ;  and 
let  him  be  executed  to-morrow,  and  his  books  consumed." — Tr. 

•|*  We  may  add.  It  is  not  from  Calvin. — Tr, 


CALVIN  PROPOSES  A  MODIFIED  PUNISHMENT.      209 

ing  by  a  privilege  which  was  refused  to  them — the 
benefit  of  time. 

Scarcely  had  the  sentence  been  passed  when  Calvin 
was  informed  of  it,  and  in  his  turn  he  announced  it  to 
Farel,  to  whom  he  had  written  some  days  before,  be- 
seeching him  to  come  to  Geneva,  when  the  sentence  of 
Servetus  was  pronounced.  As  Farel  had  not  arrived, 
Calvin  wrote  to  him  again,  and  the  pastor  of  Neufchatel 
crossed  the  letter  of  Calvin  by  the  way.  In  it  the  Gene- 
vese  Reformer  told  his  brother,  that  his  colleagues  and 
himself  had  put  forth  all  their  efforts  to  change  the 
nature  of  the  punishment  of  Servetus,  and  substitute 
the  sword  for  the  fire.  The  motive  of  this  attempt 
was,  no  doubt,  to  avoid  the  use  of  those  means  which 
the  Roman  Inquisition  employed  against  heretics  and 
Protestants,  and  not  to  recur  to  instruments  of  pun- 
ishment already  become  odious.  Calvin  wished  to 
leave  to  Romanists  the  monopoly  of  the  auto-da-fe^ 
but  the  magistrates  did  not  enter  into  his  views.  The 
canon  law  condemned  to  the  flames  persons  convicted 
of  heresy ;  *  without  disturbing  themselves  as  to  the 
origin  of  the  punishment,  the  Little  Council  con- 
formed to  the  practice ;  and  the  judicial  usage,  already 
followed  by  the  judges  of  Yienne,  triumphed  over  the 
request  of  Calvin.  It  is  to  him,  notwithstanding,  that 
men  have  always  imputed  the  guilt  of  that  funeral 
pile,  which  he  wished  had  never  been  reared !  j 

*  Compare  Bcehmer,  Instit.  Juris  Canon.  1747,  lib.  v.,  tit.  7,  §  10. 

■f  It  is  satisfactory  to  find  Calvin  thus  freed  from  the  charges 
so  often  brought  by  ignorance  against  him.  It  is  manifest  to  every 
impartial  inquirer,  that  the  magistrates  latterly  conducted  the  -whole 
affair ;  and,  moreover,  that  while  the  laws  of  Geneva  continued 

O 


210  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

In  the  meantime,  Servetus  awaited  in  his  prison  the 
result  of  the  meeting;  where  his  doom  -svas  to  he  de- 
cided,  for  he  could  not  he  ignorant  that  the  close  of 
the  drama  was  at  hand.  The  audience  which  he 
had  had  with  his  judges  two  days  before — the  constant 
and  unusual  presence  of  a  magistrate  of  police — the 
information  of  his  friends — all  must  have  taught  him 
that  the  issue  was  about  to  be  announced. 

It  appeared,  however,  that,  swayed  as  he  always 
was  by  the  excitableness  of  his  imagination,  his  alarms 
had  been  dissipated,  and  he  was  little  afraid  of  the  re- 
sult of  his  trial.  The  hope  of  acquittal,  or  of  a  slight 
punishment,  had  not  abandoned  him,  and  it  seemed 
to  him  as  if  the  power  of  his  protectors  could  not  be 
baffled  at  the  close.  The  announcement  of  his  condem- 
nation to  death,  which  was  made  to  him  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  same  day  on  which  he  was  executed,  was  to 
him  a  thunder-peal  which  overwhelmed  his  soul,  and 
terrified  him  the  more  that  it  was  utterly  unexpected. 
Before  this  irrevocable  and  inevitable  sentence 
all  his  courage  disappeared — all  his  confidence  van- 
ished— he  was  like  one  deranged.  "  When  the  mes- 
sage of  death  w^as  brought  to  him,"  says  Calvin,  "  he 
was  at  intervals  like  one  mad — then  he  uttered  groans 
which  resounded  through  his  chamber — anon,  he  be- 
gan to  howl  like  one  out  of  his  senses.  In  brief,  he 
had  all  the  appearance  of  a  demoniac.  At  last  his 
outcry  was  so  great  that  he,  without  intermission, 

Vfhat  they  were,  they  could  not  do  otherwise  than  they  did,  without 
outraging  the  very  enactments  of  which  they  were  the  executive. — 
Tr. 


THE  prisoner's  ANGUISH.  211 

exclaimed  in  Spanish,  striking  his  breast,  '  Mercy ! 
mercy !'"  The  poor  unhappy  man,  so  terribly  deluded, 
sought  refuge  in  the  first  asylum  open  to  the  unde- 
ceived, namely,  despair.  By  degrees,  however,  he 
recovered  his  spirits,  and  regained  some  degree  of 
composure;  but  he  had  lost  his  passion  and  his 
pride. 

Farel  having  arrived  at  Geneva  on  the  previous  even- 
ing, he  was  with  Servetus  when  he  learned  the  fatal 
sentence.""'  After  the  first  explosion,  the  criminal,  ad- 
dressing himself  to  the  venerable  old  man,  who  tried  to 
convince  him  of  his  guilty  error,  asked  him  to  quote  a 
single  place  of  Scripture  where  Christ  was  called  Son 
of  God  before  he  was  clothed  with  humanity.  Farel 
pointed  out  the  passages  suited  to  satisfy  him,  but  in 
vain.  Servetus  did  not  abandon  his  system;  and 
even  when  imploring  pardon,  and  praying  to  God  and 
Jesus  Christ,  whom  he  called  his  Saviour,  he  would 
not  consent  that  Christ  was  the  Son  of  God,  other- 
wise than  by  his  humanity.  In  the  eyes  of  Farel,  of 
Bullinger,  of  Haller,  of  Melancthon,  of  Calvin,  of 
almost  all  the  Reformers,  the  dissemination  of  such 
an  idea  was  a  crime.  The  Council  of  Geneva  appeared 
to  have  judged  like  them. 

In  the  meantime,  before  the  sentence  recorded  by 
it  had  been  solemnly  pronounced,  Farel  was  anxious 
that  an  interview  should  take  place  between  Calvin 

*  Farel,  in  a  letter  preserved  by  Hottinger  (Helv.  Kirchenges- 
cbichte  iii.  Th.  S.  803-805),  gives  an  account  of  the  last  moments 
of  Servetus.  We  haye  collected  from  it  the  greater  part  of  the  sub- 
sequent details. 


212  CALTIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

and  Servetus.  The  latter  showed  himself  quite  dis- 
posed to  it ;  and  Calvin  requested,  through  one  of  his 
colleagues,  the  Council's  warrant  to  that  effect.  It 
was  granted  without  delay,  and  the  Councillors  Corna 
and  Bonna  were  appointed  to  accompany  him  to  the 
condemned.  Being  asked  by  one  of  them  what  he  had 
to  say  to  Calvin,  Servetus  answered,  that  he  wished 
to  ask  his  pardon.  To  this  the  Reformer  replied  : 
"  I  protest  that  I  have  never  pursued  against  you  any 
private  quarrel.  You  must  remember  that  it  is  now 
more  than  sixteen  years  since,  at  Paris,  I  spared  no 
pains  to  gain  you  to  our  Lord,  and  if  you  had  yielded  to 
reason,  I  would  have  endeavoured  to  reconcile  to  you 
all  the  good  servants  of  God.  You  then  shunned  the 
light,  and  I  did  not  cease,  notwithstanding,  to  exhort 
you  by  letters ;  but  all  has  been  in  vain — you  have 
cast  against  me  I  know  not  how  much  fury  rather 
than  anger.  But  as  to  the  rest,  I  pass  by  what  con- 
cerns myself.  Think  rather  of  crying  for  mercy  to  God 
whom  you  have  blasphemed,  in  wishing  to  efface  the 
three  persons  who  are  in  his  essence ;  ask  pardon  of 
the  Son  of  God,  whom  you  have  degraded,  and,  as  it 
w^re,  denied  for  your  Saviour."  This  address  of 
Calvin  had  no  greater  success  than  the  exhortations 
of  Farel,  and  the  Reformer  withdrew,  as  St  Paul 
(said  he)  orders  us  to  withdraw  from  a  heretic* 
Taught  by  adversity,  Servetus  now  appeared  as  mild 
and  humble  towards  his  adversary  as  he  had  hitherto 
been  arrogant  and  bold;  but  though  he  controlled  his 
feelings,  he  did  not  sacrifice  his  convictions. 
*  Declaration,  p.  1317. 


SERVETUS  CALLED  BEFORE  HIS  JUDGES.  213 

The  moment  approached  when  he  must  appear  he- 
fore  the  tribunal,  assembled,  according  to  custom,  at 
the  gates  of  the  Town  House,  from  the  balcony  of 
which  a  Syndic  read  to  criminals  the  fatal  sentence. 
It  was  on  the  27th  October  1553,  towards  eleven 
o'clock  before  noon,  that  the  condemned  saw  the 
Lord  Lieutenant  enter  the  prison  in  quest  of  him, 
accompanied  by  the  Secretary  of  Justice.  The  pri- 
soner was  addressed  in  the  customary  words  :  "  Come 
with  me,  to  hear  the  good  pleasure  of  my  Lords." 
Servetus  obeying,  follows  the  magistrates.  On  leaving 
the  bishops'  palace,  he  comes  accompanied  by  Fare!, 
to  the  feet  of  the  judges,  to  hear  the  Lord  Syndic 
Darlod  pronounce  the  sentence  of  condemnation.. 

The  considerations  and  motives  of  this  decree  im- 
ply, we  must  repeat,  that  in  the  eyes  of  the  Council 
of  Geneva  the  heresy  of  Servetus  was  less  a  crime 
in  itself  than  by  its  consequences;  and  that  they 
wished  to  punish  him,  not  for  a  mere  error  in  opinion, 
but  to  put  Christendom  beyond  the  risk  of  a  harvest 
of  troubles,  of  which  they  declared  him  the  obstinate 
*'  sower."  The  simple  belief  of  a  heretic  sufficed  to 
cause  him  to  be  cast  into  the  flames,  by  the  tribunals 
charged  to  execute  the  sentences  of  the  Roman  Inqui- 
sition— it  was  against  the  propagation  of  heresy  that 
Geneva  prepared  its  piles.  "We  do  not  here  seek  to 
excuse — we  only  establish  a  difference.  As  to  what  re- 
mains, here  are  the  words  of  the  sentence,  such  as  Ser- 
vetus, downcast,  defeated,  and  horror-struck,  heard  it 
proceed  from  the  lips  of  the  magistrate — we  have  not 
courage  to  analyze  its  contents,  when  we  think  of  the 


214  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

anguish  which  the  reading  of  it  must  have  occasioned 
to  the  unhappy  man : — 

"  The  Process  prepared  and  conducted  before  us, 
most  redoubtable  Lord  Syndics,  judges  in  causes  crimi- 
nal in  this  city,  at  the  suit  and  instance  of  our  Lord 
Lieutenant  of  this  said  city,  in  said  causes  pursuer ; 

"  Against  Michael  Servetus  of  Yilleneuve,  in  the 
kingdom  of  Arragon,  in  Spain. 

"  The  which  has,  in  the  first  place,  been  accused 
of  having,  about  twenty-three  or  twenty-four  years 
ago,  caused  to  be  printed  at  Haguenau,  in  Germany, 
a  book  against  the  holy  and  undivided  Trinity,  con- 
taining many  great  blasphemies  against  it,  highly 
scandalous  to  the  Churches  of  said  Germany — which 
book  he  spontaneously  confessed  to  have  caused  to  be 
printed,  notwithstanding  of  remonstrances  and  cor- 
rections of  his  false  opinions  made  to  him  by  the 
learned  evangelical  doctors  of  said  Germany. 

"  Item — and  which  book  has  been  by  the  doctors 
of  those  Churches  of  Germany  refuted  as  full  of 
heresy,  and  the  said  Servetus  obliged  to  flee  from  said 
Germany  because  of  said  book: 

"  Item — and  notwithstanding  of  that,  the  said  Ser- 
vetus has  persevered  in  his  false  errors,  infecting  with 
them  as  many  as  he  could: 

"  Item — and  not  content  with  that,  for  the  better 
spreading  and  diffusing  of  his  said  poison  and  heresy, 
in  a  little  time  from  that,  he  caused  clandestinely  to 
be  printed  another  book  at  Vienne  in  Dauphine,  full 
of  said  heresies,  horrible,  and  execrable  blasphemies 


THE  SENTENCE  PRONOONCED.  215 

against  the  Holy  Trinity,  against  the  Son  of  God, 
against  the  baptism  of  little  infants,  and  many  other 
holy  passages  and  principles  of  the  Christian  religion. 

"  Item — he  has  spontaneously  confessed  that  in 
this  book  he  calls  those  ^vho  believe  in  the  Trinity, 
Tritheists*  and  Atheists: 

"  Item — and  that  he  calls  the  Trinity  a  devil,  and  a 
monster  with  three  heads: 

"  Item — and  contrary  to  the  true  foundation  of  the 
Christian  religion,  and  detestably  blaspheming  against 
the  Son  of  God,  he  has  said  that  Jesus  Christ  was 
not  the  Son  of  God  from  all  eternity,  but  only  from 
his  incarnation: 

"  Item — and  contrary  to  what  Scripture  says,  that 
Jesus  Christ  was  the  Son  of  David  according  to  the 
flesh — he  unhappily  denies  it,  saying  that  he  has  been 
created  of  the  substance  of  God  the  Father,  having 
received  three  elements  from  him,  and  only  one  from 
the  Virgin.  In  which  he  wickedly  tries  to  abolish 
the  true  and  entire  humanity  of  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  the  supreme  consolation  of  the  poor  human 
race: 

"  Item — and  that  the  baptism  of  little  infants  is 
only  an  invention  of  the  devil  and  of  witchcraft : 

"  Item — and  many  other  points  and  articles,  and 
execrable  blasphemies  with  which  the  said  book  is  all 
stuffed,  hugely  scandalous,  and  against  the  honour 
and  majesty  of  God,  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  which  is  a  cruel  and  horrible  murder, 
perdition,  and  ruin  of  many  poor  souls,  being  betrayed 

*  Trinitaires. — Tk. 


216  CALVIN  ANS)  SERVETUS. 

by  the  above  mentioned   perfidious   and   detestable 
doctrine — a  thing  shocking  to  be  related : 

"  Item — and  which  Servetus,  full  of  malice,  has 
entitled  his  book,  thus  directed  against  God,  and  the 
holy  evangelical  doctrine,  Christianismi  Restitutio — 
that  is,  the  Restoration  of  Christianity ;  and  that  for 
the  better  seducing  and  deceiving  the  poor  ignorants, 
and  for  more  easily  infecting  Avith  his  unhappy  and 
wretched  poison  the  readers  of  his  said  book,  under 
the  shade  of  sound  doctrine  : 

"  Item — and,  besides  the  book  above  mentioned, 
assailing  our  faith  also  by  letters,  and  taking  pains  to 
infect  it  with  his  poison,  he  has  voluntarily  confessed 
and  acknowledged  to  have  written  letters  to  one  of 
the  ministers  of  this  city,  in  which,  among  other 
horrible  and  enormous  blasphemies  against  our  holy 
evangelical  religion,  he  says  our  Gospel  is  without 
faith,  and  without  God,  and  that  for  a  god  w'e  have 
a  Cerberus  with  three  heads : 

"  Item — and  yet  more,  he  has  voluntarily  confessed 
that  at  the  above  named  place  of  Yienne,  he  was  im- 
prisoned on  account  of  that  wicked  and  abominable 
book  and  opinions;  which  prison  he  treacherously 
broke,  and  escaped : 

"  Itein — and  the  said  Servetus  has  not  only  directed 
bis  doctrine  against  the  true  Christian  religion,  but 
like  an  arrogant  introducer  of  heresies,  against  the 
Papistry  and  others,  so  that  at  Yienne  he  was  even 
burnt  in  effigy,  with  five  bales  of  his  said  books: 

"  Item — and  notwithstanding  of  all  that,  being  here 
detained  in  the  prison  of  this  city,  he  has  not  ceased 


THE  SENTENCE  CONTINUED.         217 

maliciously  to  persist  in  his  said  vile  and  detestable 
errors,  endeavouring  to  maintain  them  Avith  injuries 
and  calumnies  against  all  true  Christians,  and  faithful 
holders  of  the  pure,  immaculate  Christian  religion, 
calling  them  Tritheists,  Atheists,  Sorcerers,  in  spite  of 
the  remonstrances  long  ago  made  to  him  in  Ger- 
many, as  has  been  said,  and  in  contempt  of  re- 
proofs, imprisonments,  and  corrections  given  to  him 
elsewhere,  as  well  as  here ;  as  is  more  largely  and  at 
length  set  forth  in  his  trial : 

"  And  we,  the  Syndics,  Judges  in.  causes  criminal 
of  this  city,  having  considered  the  Process  prepared  and 
conducted  before  us,  at  the  instance  of  our  Lieutenant, 
pursuer  in  said  causes,  against  thee,  M.  Servetus  of 
Villeneuve,  in  the  kingdom  of  Arragon  in  Spain,  by 
"which,  and  thy  voluntary  confessions  put  into  our 
hands,  and  many  times  repeated,  and  thy  books 
produced  before  us,  it  is  plain  and  apparent  to  us 
that  thou,  Servetus,  hast  for  a  long  time  put  forth 
false  and  clearly  heretical  doctrine;  and  here,  by 
putting  aside  all  remonstrances  and  corrections,  with 
a  malicious  and  perverse  obstinacy,  thou  hast  sown 
and  promulgated  it  even  to  the  publishing  of  printed 
books  against  God  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Spirit — in  brief,  against  the  true  principles  of  the 
Christian  rehgion;  by  that,  thou  hast  endeavoured 
to  cause  schism  and  trouble  in  the  Church  of  God 
by  which  men's  souls  might  be  ruined  and  destroyed, 
— a  thing  horrible  and  shocking,  scandalous  and  in- 
fectious, and  hast  had  no  shame  nor  horror  boldly  to 
assail  the  Divine  Majesty  and  the  Holy  Trinity,  and 


218  CALVIN  AND  SERYETUS. 

hast  also  taken  pains  and  been  obstinately  employed 
in  infesting  tbe  world  with  thy  heresies  and  offen- 
sive heretical  poison — cause  and  crime  of  grievous  and 
detestable  heresy,  and  meriting  severe  bodily  chas- 
tisement. For  these  and  other  just  reasons  us  hereto 
moving,  desiring  to  purge  the  Church  of  God  of  such 
infection,  and  to  cut  off  from  it  such  a  corrupt  mem- 
ber— having  w^ell  consulted  with  our  fellow-citizens,* 
and  having  invoked  the  name  of  God  to  guide  to 
right  judgment,  sitting  on  the  tribunal  in  the  place 
of  our  ancestors — having  God,  and  his  Holy  Scrip- 
tures before  our  eyes,  saying  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  this 
our  definitive  sentence,  which  we  give  here  in  writing, 
we  condemn  thee,  M.  Servetus,  to  be  bound,  and  led 
to  the  place  of  Champel,  there  to  be  fastened  to  a 
stake,  and  burned  alive,  with  thy  book,  as  well  written 
by  thy  hand  as  printed,  even  till  thy  body  be  reduced 
to  ashes,  and  thus  wilt  thou  finish  thy  days,  to  furnish 
an  example  to  others  who  might  wish  to  commit  the 
like. 

"  And  by  you,  our  Lieutenant,  we  command  our 
present  sentence  to  be  put  in  execution."t 

The  last  words  had  scarcely  fallen  on  the  ears  of 
Servetus,  when,  struck  with  horror  at  the  prospect  of 
that  frightful  punishment,  he  exclaimed  that  he  had 

*  That  is  to  say,  -witli  the  Little  Council,  the  Syndics  being 
reckoned  sole  judges  in  criminal  cases,  as  already  noticed. 

i"  This  whole  Sentence  is  expressed  according  to  the  formula  com- 
monly employed  in  pronouncing  judgment. 


THE  AGONY  OF  SERVETUS VALENTIN  GENTILI.  219 

erred  through  ignorance,  that  he  had  always  sought 
to  follow  Scripture,  and  that  he  implored  thera  to 
commute  his  punishment  into  one  less  rigorous. 
Farel  then  said  to  him  that,  to  ohtain  mercy,  he  must 
confess  his  fault,  and  testify  his  horror  at  it;  but  Ser- 
vetus  refused  that  confession,  repeating  that  he  had 
not  merited  death,  and  that  he  prayed  God  to  pardon 
his  accusers. 

Five  years  after  that,  another  theologian,  accused 
of  the  same  errors  as  Servetus,  and  threatened  with 
the  same  doom  by  the  magistrates,  showed  that  he  was 
less  obstinate  or  less  convinced.  This  was  the  Italian, 
Valentin  Gentili,  who,  after  having  attacked  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Trinity,  abandoned  his  opinion,  and  was 
acquitted  on  his  making  a  solemn  confession  of  his 
faults,  asking  pardon  from  the  judges,  with  a  torch  in 
his  hand,  barefooted,  and  on  his  knees,  and  burning 
with  his  own  hand  the  book  in  which  he  had  taught 
his  doctrine.  Servetus  could  have  escaped  from  the 
affair  at  the  same  price,  but  he  did  not  wish  to  profit 
by  the  benefits  of  a  recantation,  and  preferred  his  con- 
victions to  his  life.  In  this  perseverance,  Farel  saw 
only  a  guilty  obstinacy,  and  he  was  so  incensed  that 
he  threatened  Servetus  not  to  follow^  him  to  the  funeral 
pile,  if  he  persisted  in  maintaining  his  innocence. 
Silence  was  the  only  reply  of  the  condemned  man,  and 
the  mournful  procession  began  to  move  forward. 

Passing  under  the  gate  of  the  castle  (an  ancient 
arcade  of  the  Bourg-de-Four),  it  crossed  the  place  of 
the  Bourg-de-Four,  and  ascending  the  street  of  St  An- 
thony (the  Braziers),  it  issued  from  the  town  by  the 


220  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

gate  of  the  same  name.  Then,  moving  southward,  it 
turned  toward  the  place  of  punishment,  leaving  on 
the  left  the  spot  where,  twenty  years  hefore,  there 
stood  the  celebrated  Faubourg  and  Church  of  St 
Victor,  razed  in  1534,  for  the  defence  of  Geneva. 
Here  was  the  glorious  remembrance  of  sacrifices  made 
for  political  freedom,  and  only  a  few  paces  farther  were 
the  mournful  traces  of  another  sacrifice  consummated 
against  rehgious  liberty!  The  Lord  Lieutenant,  and 
the  herald  on  horseback,  both  arrayed  in  the  insignia  of 
their  office,  marched  before  the  archers  who  surrounded 
Farel  and  Servetus.  The  crowd,  less  numerous  than 
that  which  commonly  assists  at  such  sights,  swelled 
the  escort. 

During  the  short  journey  that  separated  the  place 
of  the  sentence  from  that  of  the  punishment,  Farel 
endeavoured  to  obtain  from  the  condemned  a  con- 
fession of  his  crime;  while  he  persisted  in  asking  that 
his  faults  should  be  pardoned,  but  he  neither  uttered 
a  disavowal  of  his  beliefs,  nor  did  he  try  further  to 
defend  them.  Calvin,  who  was  incensed  and  ofi'ended 
at  the  thought  that  "  the  disciples  of  Servetus,  or 
pragmatical  men  like  him,  should  wish,  out  of  his 
furious  obstinacy,  to  evoke  the  constancy  of  a  martyr," 
cannot  resist  reproaching  him  for  "  having  made  no 
confession,  either  on  the  one  side  or  the  other,  more 
than  a  block  of  wood,  although  he  had  permission  to 
speak  as  he  chose."*  These  words  are  unjust.  That 
was  not  the  moment  for  Servetus  either  to  abandon 
or  maintain  opinions  which  could  not,  at  that  last  hour, 

*  Declaration,  p.  1365. 


THE  ENVIRONS  OP  GENEVA CHAMPEL.  221 

exclusively  engross  his  soul.  The  sight  of  the  pile 
■which  he  was  to  mount  inspired  him  with  more 
serious  desires.  Why  marvel,  if  in  his  mind  polemics 
gave  place  to  eternity  ?  Let  us  grant  to  Calvin,  since 
he  holds  it,  that  Servetus  did  not  die  as  a  martyr — it 
will  not  follow,  as  he  wishes,  that  he  died  as  an  im- 
pious man. 

At  a  little  distance  from  the  walls  of  Geneva,  to- 
wards the  south,  there  rises  a  little  hill  with  graceful 
outlines,  from  the  summit  of  which  the  view  extends 
over  one  of  the  most  lovely  landscapes  of  that  coun- 
trv.  In  the  distance  are  the  clear  waters  and  the 
luxuriant  banks  of  the  Lake  of  Geneva;  the  immense 
amphitheatre  of  the  Jura,  which  terminates  the  hori- 
zon to  the  west  and  the  north ;  and  the  undulating 
ridges  of  the  mountains  which  shut  up  the  valley  of 
the  Leman  towards  the  south-west.  All  around,  at 
the  base  of  the  hills,  are  smiling  fields;  at  some  paces 
distant,  the  ancient  Geneva,  whose  edifices,  closely 
crowded  on  each  other,  resemble  a  dark  bee-hive;  and 
in  front  of  the  spectator  turned  towards  the  west, 
the  hills  rise  in  terraces  above  La  Cluse,  cut  like  a 
breach  in  the  rampart  of  the  Jura;  then  nearer  still, 
and  in  front  of  rugged  slopes,  between  which  the 
Arve  and  the  Rhone  imprison  their  course,  without 
mingling  their  waters,  is  the  verdant  down  of  Plain 
Palais,  the  Campus  Martins  of  Geneva,  tradition- 
ally consecrated  to  civic  festivals  and  warlike  pomps. 
One  side  alone  is  stem,  which  one  leaves  behind  him 
to  survey,  in  a  single  glance,  the  picture  which  we 
have  sketched — it  is  the  barren  and  the  rocky  Saleve, 


222  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

TS'liose  jagged  sides  sadden  the  view  as  much  by  their 
•wild  monotony,  as  the  rest  of  the  panorama  delights 
by  an  innumerable  variety  of  prospects.  The  little 
eminence  from  whose  height  one  can  contemplate  these 
contrasts,  is  Champel — on  its  summit  was  prepared 
the  funeral  pile  of  Servetus.  * 

If  the  gaze  of  that  unhappy  man  could  still  rest 
on  the  beauties  of  nature,  he  must  have  experienced 
a  new  pang  in  contemplating  from  the  place  of  his  exe- 
cution, amid  the  varied  tints  of  autumn,  that  delicious 
spectacle  which  produced  in  the  soul  the  sweetest 
emotions ;  or  rather,  in  marching  towards  the  scene  of 
his  death,  his  eyes,  if  they  quitted  the  earth,  would 
naturally  be  arrested  by  the  gloomy  escarpments  of  the 
mountain  which  rose  in  front  of  him,  like  a  curbing 
and  invincible  barrier.  The  indomitable  rather  than 
the  picturesque  in  the  harmonies  of  creation  ought  to 
respond  to  the  impressions  of  that  unhappy  man. 

In  the  meantime,  the  procession  and  the  people 
who  accompany  it,  have  reached  the  heights  of 
Champel.  The  preparations  for  the  execution  are 
finished — and  the  executioner  only  waits  for  his  vic- 
tim. Before  surrendering  him,  Farel  invites  the 
heretic  to  solicit  the  prayers  of  the  spectators  who 
surround  him,  and  to  unite  his  own  supplications 
to  theirs.     Servetus  obeys  the  request,  and  then  is 

*  There  was  there  in  ancient  times  a  chapel  dedicated  to  St 
Paul,  whence  the  names  of  Tattes  de  St  Paid^  given,  according  to 
La  Corbiere,  to  the  level  of  Champel,  on  -which,  and  not  at  the 
spot  called  Champ  chi  BourreaiC,  should  be  placed  the  theatre  of  exe- 
cutions.   This  latter  place  -was  the  cemetery  of  the  executed. 


THE  EXECUTION.  223 

silent;  but  pious  invocations  continue  to  ascend  to 
Heaven,  while  the  unhappy  man  for  whom  these 
prayers  arose  in  silence  mounts  the  funeral  pile. 
Amid  the  faggots  which  are  to  consume  him,  there  is 
placed  a  stake,  to  which  the  executioner  fastens  him 
by  chains  of  iron ;  his  book,  the  cause  and  companion 
of  his  punishment,  is  bound  by  his  side;  upon  his 
head  there  is  placed  a  crown  of  leaves,  covered  with 
sulphur.  Instantly  the  murderous  torch  gleams  in  his 
eyes,  and  the  sight  of  the  flame  extorts  from  him  a  cry 
of  terror  which  irresistibly  startled  the  spectators  of 
that  mournful  scene.* 

The  flames  speedily  reach  him — they  devour  him 
— and  before  an  hour  has  fled,  there  remains  nothing 
of  Servetus  on  the  earth  but  some  scattered  ashes 
— a  name  henceforth  celebrated — and  a  mournful 
remembrance. 

The  tardy  scandal  which  this  execution  has  occa- 
sioned is  a  tribute  ofi*ered  to  the  spirit  of  the  Reforma- 
tion; for  it  is,  perhaps,  less  the  rigour  of  the  judges 
than  their  inconsistency  which  has  given  such  notoriety 
to  the  death  of  Servetus.  Everywhere  else  but  in  a 
Reformed  city  he  might  have  perished  without  his 
memory  recalling  anything  but  a  funeral  pile  and  a 
victim.  At  Geneva,  he  could  not  lose  his  life  without 
becoming  the  representative  of  a  cause,  and  the  martyr 
of  a  principle. 

*  We  regard  as  apocryphal  the  details  which  are  sometimes  given 
regarding  the  last  moments  of  Servetus,  and  have  not  narrated 
them. 


224?  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

However  sincere  miglit  be  the  motives  of  those  who 
desired,  commanded,  and  sanctioned  his  condemnation, 
freedom  of  opinion  and  inviolability  of  thought  have 
not  been  the  less  outrageously  attacked  in  his  person : 
they  have  been  avenged  in  the  popularity  of  his  name, 
and  the  condemnation  of  his  punishment.  The  Re- 
tormation  had  too  soon  forgotten  that  its  existence  in 
the  Christian  world  implied  the  one  and  the  other  of 
these  conditions,  as  necessary  to  the  development  of 
intelligence  and  of  faith. 

The  Reformed  Church  did  not  understand  that  in 
giving  to  man  truth  for  an  end,  God  gave  him  free 
inquiry  for  the  means.  She  had  turned  her  desires 
and  endeavours  only  to  the  first,  and  when  she  be- 
lieved that  she  had  secured  it,  she  judged  the  second 
thenceforward  superfluous.  After  having  employed 
liberty  not  to  destroy,  but  to  displace  authority  in  mat- 
ters of  faith,  she  wished,  in  her  turn,  to  forbid  to  others 
the  use  of  that  instrument  of  which  she  saw  only  the 
danger.  Luther,  in  order  to  avert  the  Roman  thunders 
from  his  head,  wrote  at  the  beginning  of  his  struggle, 
"To  burn  heretics  is  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."*  Thirty-five  years  thereafter  Calvin  delivered 
up  Servetus  to  secular  justice.  Melancthon  congratu- 
lated him  for  it,  and  publicly  sustained  the  thesis  "that 
the  magistrates  of  Geneva  did  well  to  burn  the  here- 
tic.  J 

*  Conclusio  LXXX.  in  Resol.  De  Indulgentiis,  1518.  This 
thesis  is  among  those  which  the  Sorbonne  condemned  in  1521. 

"t*  In  the  Corpus  Refonn.  published  by  Bretschneider,  tome  viii. 
pp.  362,  520.  See  also  the  letter  of  Melancthon  to  Bullinger, 
p.  523. 


REFLECTIONS.  225 

In  seeking  to  repress  the  manifestation  of  opinions 
opposed  to  its  own,  the  Reformation  acted  in  good 
faith;  for  it  had  experience,  of  the  dangers  which  fol- 
lowed the  steps  of  religious  emancipation,  and  felt  it- 
self still  sore  from  the  blows  inflicted  in  its  own  camp 
by  the  conflict  of  opinions.     The  errors  of  the  Refor- 
mation lay  in  not  trusting  for  protection  to  the  same 
principles  which  had  called  it  into  existence,  and  in 
yielding  to  the  irresistible  temptation  to  repress  by 
force  (of  which  the  political  authorities  offered  the  as- 
sistance, while  they  concealed  its  odiousness),  what 
should    have   been   combated    only   by    persuasion. 
The  "Word  had  produced   the  Reformation;  but  to 
defend  itself,  it  preferred  the  scaffold  to  the  Word. 
The  execution  of  Servetus  was  at  once  the  fruit  and  the 
remedy  of  this  fatal  inconsistency.    Repression  had,  in 
effect,  nothing  but  a  funeral  pile  for  its  logic  and  for  its 
practical  result;  but  the  flames  of  that  pile  threw  light 
on  the  iniquity  of  repression  better  than  the  most  able 
arguments.      They  have  perhaps  enlightened  men's 
minds  as  much  as  all  the  Popish  autos-da-fe;  for  one 
signal  contradiction  shocks  us  more  than  the  results 
of  a  consistent  system. 

At  the  same  time,  we  should  by  no  means  neglect 
to  notice,  without  prejudice  to  the  partisans  of  hetero- 
dox opinions,  who  plead  a  cause  rather  than  defend  a 
principle,  that  the  public  conscience  offered  no  pro- 
test. The  life  of  one  man  in  those  days  of  contest  and 
of  danger  did  not  appear  to  any  one  a  monstrous  sacri- 
fice; it  was  a  stake  that  lost  its  prize,  because  every 

s 


22 G  CALVIN  AND  SERVETUS. 

one  was  called  very  frequently  to  risk  It.  The  manners 
of  that  epoch,  wholly  characterized  by  fierce  rudeness 
or  licentious  frivolity,  left  no  room  in  that  contrast 
for  emotions  of  pity.  The  punishment  of  a  heretic 
satisfied  the  convictions  of  the  one,  and  did  not  even 
rufile  the  insensibility  of  the  other:  the  rights  of 
humanity  and  of  thought  were  stifled  between  indif- 
ference and  austerity. 

• 

Time  has  done  its  work,  and  that  repression  of  re- 
ligious belief  which,  perhaps,  would  not  have  influ- 
<|.enced  the  mind  had  it  remained  within  the  limits  of 
a  moderate  punishment,  has  outraged  conscience  and 
the  heart  by  passing  into  a  Church  the  daughter  of  in- 
dependence and  of  a  free  faith,  to  erect  scaifokls  even 
there.  Men  have  recoiled  at  this  excess  of  error,  and 
little  by  little  have  recoiled  from  the  error  itself:  it  is 
no  longer  the  mere  impunity  of  manifestations  of 
thouirht  which  is  sfuaranteed — it  is  the  free  utterance 
of  convictions  that  has  taken  its  place  among  our  in- 
alienable privileges — we  must  add,  of  our  most  sa- 
cred duties.  Why  is  man  so  constituted  that  we  must 
repeat,  in  seeing  the  price  at  which  the  reign  of  social 
truth  is  established,  what  Augustus  said  regarding  the 
consolidation  of  his  empire — 

"  Why  always  blood,  and  always  punishments?" 

* 

— But  we  forget  that  our  duty  of  historian  should 
have  closed  with  the  life  of  Servetus.  If  we  have 
trespassed,  it  is  because  it  was  necessary  plainly  to 


CONCLUSION. 


227 


indicate  to  what  opinion  the  narrative  of  his  trial  con- 
ducts us — and  to  show  that  the  interest  which  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  name  of  Servetus  may  have  another 
origin  than  hostility  to  the  Reformation,  or  hatred  to 
Calvin. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 


A— Page  63. 

The  following  are  the  remarks  by  Rilliet  on  the  labours 
of  his  predecessors  in  treating  of  Servetus.  They  are 
omitted  in  the  text,  as  not  essential  to  the  continuity  of  the 
narrative,  but  placed  here,  as  indicating  the  importance  of 
Billiet's  labours  : — 

"  The  really  original  historians,  whose  narratives  are 
reproduced  like  traditions,  and  without  corrections,  are  the 
minister  De  la  Roche  and  Professor  Mosheim.  The  former 
gave  in  two  periodical  collections,  the  one  English,  and 
the  other  French,*  according  to  extracts  which  he  him- 
self had  made  from  the  original  papers  of  the  trial,  an 
interesting,  but  incomplete,  account  of  the  proceedings. 
Some  portions  of  these  extracts  were  also  published  along 
with  the  petitions  of  Servetus,  and  the  sentence  of  con- 
demnation. In  1748,  J.  L.  de  Mosheim  published,  in  Ger- 
man, a  very  prolix  biography  of  M.  Servetus,t  in  which 

*  Memoirs  of  Literature,  &c.,  vol.  i.,  p.  349  (London  :  1712,  folio);  and 
Bibliotheque  Anglaise,  tome  ii.,  art.  7  ( Amst.,  1717,  12mo). 

t  Anderweitiger  Versuch  einer  VoUstandigen,  und  unpartheyischen  Ket- 
zergeschichte  (Helmstadt,  1743,  4to),  having  for  its  second  title,  Ges- 
chichte  des  beruhmten  Spanishen  Arztes  Michaels  Serveto.  In  1750. 
Mosheim  completed  this  work  by  his  Neue  Nachrichten  von  dem  beruhmten 
Spaniscben  Arzte  M.  Serveto  der  zu  Geneve  ist  verbrannt  worden. 


230  APPENDIX. 

according  to  another  extract  from  the  same  documents^ 
which  had  been  transmitted  to  him,  he  presented  a  de- 
tailed, but  equally  iniperfect,  account  of  the  judicial  prose- 
cution directed  against  his  hero.  From  that  time  no  one 
had  had  recourse  to  the  documents  which  the  archives  of 
Geneva  contain,  and  it  had  even  been  reported,  as  it  is  still 
generally  believed,  that  the  papers  of  the  process  against 
him  were  no  longer  in  existence.  In  1839,  a  Bernese 
pastor,  M.  Trechsel,  who  has  given  in  German  a  good  his- 
tory of  that  heretic,*  affirmed,  on  the  testimony  of  MM. 
M'Crie  and  Henry,  the  most  recent  biographers  of  Calvin,t 
that  *  the  original  documents  in  that  remarkable  procedure 
had  disappeared  from  the  archives  of  Geneva,  according  to  a 
letter  of  the  Syndic  Calandrini,  addressed  to  Jacob  Vernet, 
and  transcribed  by  Galiffe.'  To  compensate  for  this  pre- 
sumed disappearance,  M.  Trechsel  has  published  a  suffi- 
ciently accurate  copy  of  the  authentic  proceedings  made 
in  the  second  half  of  the  last  century,  and  deposited  in  the 
Library  at  Berne.  Finally,  in  1842,  the  original  docu- 
ments of  the  trial  contained  in  the  archives  were  discovered 
by  M.  de  ValajTe,  who  has  availed  himself  of  them,  with- 
out indicating  their  existence,  for  the  composition  of  an 
historical  fragment  upon  Servetus,  inserted  in  his  Legendes 
et  Chroniqiies  Suisses.t  Unfortunately,  the  documents  which 
were  at  his  disposal  have  not  been,  in  our  ojsinion,  either 
completely  or  exactly  consulted  by  him, 

"  Of  these  different  writers,  M.  Trechsel  is  the  one  who 

*  Die  Protestantischen  Antitrinitarier  vor  Faustus  Socin.  Erstes  Buch  : 
Michael  Servet,  und  Seine  Vorganger.    Heidelberg,  1839,  8vo. 

t  It  is  not  known  to  which  of  the  M'Cries  Rilliet  here  refers  ;  but  it  is 
obvious  he  was  under  the  erroneous  impression  that  one  of  them  had 
actually  written  a  Life  of  Calvin.  The  impression  arose,  either  from  the 
fact  that  Dr  M'Crie,  at  the  period  of  his  lamented  death,  was  known  to  be 
engaged  on  that  work,  or  that  Mr  John  M'Crie,  during  a  long  residence 
in  Geneva,  was  much  employed  in  making  collections  for  a  Life  of  Calvin, 
which  he  was  not,  in  providence,  permitted  to  write.— Tb. 

t  Paris,  1842,  p.  283-357. 


APPENDIX.  231 

appears  to  have  approached  the  nearest  to  the  truth ;  but 
he  is  deficient  also  in  the  exact  knowledge  of  the  forms 
of  ancient  Genevese  justice,  and  has  not  made  the  con- 
nection of  the  process  against  Servetus  with  contemporary 
events  sufficiently  prominent.  Besides,  like  the  rest,  he 
had  not  the  knowledge  of  the  Registers  of  the  Little 
Council,  and  other  documents  which  throw  light  on  the 
trial,  nor  even  of  the  manuscript  extracts  made  by 
Gautier,  while  even  they  do  not  include  all  the  details  con- 
tained in  the  authentic  digest.  We  have  examined  the 
latter  with  care,  and  copied  entire  the  deliberations  and 
decisions  which  relate  to  the  affair  of  Servetus.  We  also 
took  a  complete  copy  of  those  parts  of  the  proceeding 
which  are  collected  in  a  separate  volume  of  more  than  two 
hundred  folio  pages,  under  the  title  :  Proces  de  Michel  Ser- 
vetus, 1553.  We  find  there  the  questions  put  to  Servetus 
— the  petitions  of  the  party  complaining,  and  those  of  the 
accused— the  documents  of  the  written  discussion — vari- 
ous pieces  annexed — the  correspondence  with  the  Swiss 
Churches  and  Governments,  and  the  sentence  of  condem- 
nation. 

**  It  is  an  accurate  analysis  of  these  different  documents 
that  forms  the  basis  of  our  present  work.  In  addition,  we 
have  made  use  of  historical  details  contained  in  contem- 
porary letters,  MS.  and  printed ;  of  the  information  fur- 
nished by  the  Vindication  which  Calvin  himself  published 
in  1554  ;*  and  of  some  facts  concerning  the  sojourn  and  the 
punishment  of  Servetus,  contained  in  a  nan-ative  which 
an  adversary  to  Calvin  published  a  short  time  after  the 
heretic's  death.f 

♦  Declaration  pour  maintenir  la  vraye  Joy  que  tiennent  tous  Chrestiena 
de  la  Trinid  des  personnes  en  un  seul  Dieu,  Conire  less  erreurs  detestables 
de  Michel  Servet,  Espagnol,  Ou  it  est  aussi  monstri  qu'il  est  licite  de  ptinir 
les  heretiques  et  qu'a  ton  droict  ce  meschant  a  esie  executi  par  justice  en  la 
villede  Geneve.— See  Calvin's  Opuscula. 

t  Historia  de  Morte  Serveti.    This  account,  of  some  pages,  appears  to 


282  APPENDIX. 

"  In  bringing  together  the  stores  furnished  by  those  dif- 
ferent sources  of  information  which  contemporary  narra- 
tives afford,  regarding  the  state  of  the  Republic  at  the  time 
of  the  affair  of  Servetus,  we  have  been  able  to  present  it, 
we  hope,  under  an  aspect  as  true  as  the  conscientious  em- 
ployment of  historical  documents  would  permit.  Our 
work  had  not  for  its  object,  and  will  not  have  for  its  result, 
the  furnishing  of  new  weapons  of  defence,  either  to  the 
enemies  or  the  friends  of  Calvin,  whose  name  is  now  found 
inseparably  connected  with  that  of  Servetus.  Historical 
truth  is  in  general  but  little  connected  with  absolute  judg- 
ments, and  it  is  that  truth  alone  which  we  have  sought, 
shunning,  as  much  as  possible,  to  mix  up  with  the  estimate 
of  past  times  the  ideas,  the  opinions,  and  the  lights  of  our 
own.  Besides,  to  be  fully  understood,  the  sojourn  of  Ser- 
vetus at  Geneva,  and  the  tragical  issue  which  closed  it, 
should  be  connected  with  the  tout-ensemble  of  his  life,  as  this, 
again,  should  be  traced  to  the  general  idea  of  which  it  was 
the  manifestation.  Here  w^e  have  sought  to  exhibit  only 
the  Genevese  side  of  the  subject,  elsewhere  we  shall  en- 
deavour to  present  the  whole,  submitting  in  detail  the 
characteristic  traits  of  the  life  and  opinions  of  Servetus, 
along  with  a  general  view  of  the  connection  between  the 
Reformation  and  heresy.  The  present  work  will  then  be 
reproduced  with  certain  modifications,  so  as  to  complete 
the  undertaking." 

have  been  the  object  of  Calvin's  refutations  in  his  Deck/ration.  One  might 
also  regard  as  true  the  facts  which  are  not  contradicted  by  Calvin,  pub- 
lished in  a  book  entitled  :  "  Contra  libellum  Calvini  quo  ostendere  conatur 
hsreticos  jure  gladii  coercendos  esse,"  printed  first  in  1554,  and  repro- 
duced in  Holland  1612,  in  8vo.  After  having  at  first  appeared  apart,  that 
little  work  was  reproduced  by  Alwoerden  and  Mosheim  in  their  biographies 
of  Servetus.  [We  are  to  be  careful  how  far  we  receive  statements  as  true, 
merely  because  Calvin  did  not  contradict  them. — Tr.] 


APPENDIX. 


B— Pages  97,  100. 


233 


We  subjoin  a  Verbatim  Copy  of  the  Indictment  against 
Servetus,  as  lodged  bj  N.  de  la  Fontaine,  omitting 
only  the  references  to  the  Books  of  Servetus,  or  other 
documents,  on  which  the  charges  are  founded. 

Plainte  portee  par  Nicolas  de  la  Fontaine  contre  Sertet,  et 

red'igie  par  Calvin, 

Propose  Nycolas  de  la  Fontaine,  lequel  sest  faict  partie 
contre  Michel  Servet  et  pour  ceste  cause  sest  constitue 
prisonnier  en  cause  criminelle. 

1.  I.  En  premier  lieu  quil  y  a  environ  vingt  quatre  ans 
quil  a  commence  h  troubler  les  Eglises  d'Allemagne  par 
ses  erreurs  et  heresies  et  a  este  condamne  et  sest^  rendu 
fuytif  pour  evader  la  punition  qui  luy  estoit  aprestee;  ^ 

2.  II.  Item  que  de  ce  temps  la  ou  environ  il  a  imprime 
ung  livre  execrable  lequel  a  infecte  beaucoup  de  gens ; 

3.  III.  Item  que  depuis  il  na  cess^  par  tons  moiens  quil 
a  pen  de  semer  son  poison  taut  aux  cottations  quil  a  faict 
sur  la  Bible  comme  en  quelques  annotations  quil  a  faictes 
sur  Ptolomee ; 

4.  IV.  Item  que  depuis  il  a  imprimd  en  cachette  ung 
autre  livre  contennant  des  blasphemes  infinis ; 

5.  V.  Item  questant  de'tenu  prisonier  en  la  ville  de 
Vienne,  quant  il  vit  quon  ne  le  vouloit  recevoir  a  grdce  de 
se  desdire  il  trouva  le  moyen  deschapper  de  la  prison. 

VI.  Requiert  ledict  Nycolas  que  ledict  Servet  soyt  exa- 
mine sur  tons  les  poincts. 

VII.  Et  pource  quil  pourroit  tergiverser  pre'tendant 
que  ses  blasphemes  et  heresies  ne  sont  que  bonne  doctrine, 
ledict  Nycolas  propose  certains  articles  sur  lesquels  U  de- 
roande  ledict  her^ticque  estre  examind. 


234  APPENDIX. 

6.  VIII.  Ascavoir  sil  na  pas  escript  et  dogmatist  et  pub- 
lid  que  de  croire  quen  une  seulle  essence  de  Dieu  il  y  a 
trois  personnes  distinctes,  le  Pere,  le  Fils,  et  le  Sainct  Es- 
perit,  cest  forger  quatre  fantosmes  qui  ne  se  peuvent  et  ne 
66  doibvent  imaginer. 

7.  IX.  Item  que  de  mettre  telle  distinction  en  I'essence 
de  Dieu  c'est  faire  ung  Dieu  party  en  trois  et  que  cela  est 
ung  diable  a  trois  testes  comme  le  Cerberus  que  les  Poetes 
anciens  ont  appelld  le  chien  denfer,  ung  monstre,  et  telles 
injures  semblables. 

8.  X.  Item  sil  ne  maintient  poinct  tels  blasphemes  avec- 
ques  grandes  injures  tant  contre  les  docteurs  anciens  comme 
sainct  Ambroise,  sainct  Augustin,  Clirisostome,  Athanase, 
et  leurs  semblables,  comme  contre  tons  ceulx'qui  ont  tasclid 
de  nostre  temps  de  remetre  la  cbrestientd  au  dessus,  jusques 
k  nommer  Melancbton  homme  sans  foy,  fils  du  Diablej 
Belial  et  Satban. 

9.  XI.  Item  sil  ne  diet  pas  que  nostre  Seigneur  lesus 
Christ  nest  poinct  fils  de  Dieu  sinon  en  tant  quil  a  este 
con9u  du  Sainct  Esperit,  au  ventre  de  la  Vierge  Marie. 

10.  XII.  Item  que  ceulx  qui  croyent  que  lesus  Christ 
ayt  este  la  parolle  de  Dieu  le  pere  engendree  de  tout  eter- 
nite,  ont  seullement  une  redemption  fantastique  et  de  sor-^ 
ciers. 

11.  XIII.  Item  que  lesus  Christ  est  Dieu  en  tant  que 
Dieu  a  faict  quil  fust  tel. 

12.  XIV.  Item  que  la  chair  de  lesus  Christ  est  venue 
du  ciel  et  de  la  substance  de  Dieu. 

13.  XV.  Item  que  la  Deite  a  este  seullement  commim- 
iquee  k  lesus  Christ  quant  il  a  este  faict  homme  et  depuis 
spirituellement  communiquee  aux  apostres  au  jour  de  la 
Penthecoste. 

14.  XVI.  Item  quant  il  est  dit  que  lesus  Christ  est  dune 
mesme  essence  avecques  son  pere,  cest  d  dire  quen  cest 
homme  lesus  Christ  il  y  a  une  mesme  deite,  puissance  et 


APPENDIX.  235 

Volonte  avecques  Dieu  et  non  pas  que  la  parolle  de  Dieu 
reside  et  subsiste  en  son  essence. 

15.  XVII.  Item  sil  ne  condamne  poiuct  ceiilx  qui  cher- 
chent  en  lessence  de  Dieu  son  saiuct  esperit  disant  que 
tons  ceulx  qui  croyent  la  Trinite  sont  atheistes. 

16.  XYIII.  Item  tons  ceulx  qui  croyent  quelque  dis- 
tinction de  propriete  en  lessence  de  Dieu  dissipent  sa  na- 
ture et  la  mettent  par  pieces. 

17.  XIX.  Item  que  la  parolle  de  Dieu  nest  autre  chose 
que  la  chair  de  lesus  Christ. 

18.  XX.  Item  que  la  chair  de  lesus  Christ  a  este  engen- 
dree  de  la  substance  de  Dieu  par  une  parolle  quil  appelle 
sesmiualle. 

19.  XXI.  Item  que  lessence  de  la  chair  et  de  lame  de 
lesus  Christ  est  la  deite  de  ceste  parolle  et  du  souflae  que 
Dieu  a  mis  hors. 

20.  XXII.  Item  que  si  lesus  Christ  estoit  fils  de  Dieu 
isinon  a  cause  de  son  humanite  pour  ce  quelle  est  engendree 
de  la  substance  de  Dieu,  quil  ne  seroit  poinct  vrayment 
mort.     Car  sil  est  mort  il  nest  plus  fils  de  Dieu. 

21.  XXIII.  Item  quant  sainct  lehan  diet  que  la  parolle 
estoit  en  Dieu,  cest  a  dire  que  cest  homme  lesus  Christ  y 
estoit. 

22.  XXIV.  Item  que  lessence  des  anges  et  de  nos  ames 
est  de  la  substance  de  Dieu. 

23.  XXV.  Item  que  la  substance  de  lesus  Christ  est 
celle  qui  estoit  en  la  nuee  et  que  cest  la  mesme  substance 
de  laquelle  les  anges  et  nos  ames  precedent. 

24.  XXVI.  Item  au  lieu  de  confesser  trois  personnes  en 
lessence  de  Dieu  ou  trois  hypostases  qui  ayent  chacune  sa 
propriete,  il  diet  que  Dieu  est  une  senile  chose  contenant 
cent  mil  essences,  tellement  quil  est  une  portion  de  nous, 
et  que  nous  somraes  une  portion  de  son  esperit. 

25.  XXVII.  Item  suyvant  cela  que  non  seuUement  les 
patrons  de  toutes  creatures  sont  en  Dieu,  mais  aussi  les 


236  APPENDIX. 

formes  essentielles,  tellement  que  nos  ames  sont  de  la 
semence  substanciale  de  la  parolle  de  Dieu. 

26.  XXVIII.  Item  que  lesus  Christ  est  le  fils  de  Dieu 
pour  ce  quil  a  trois  elemens  de  la  substance  du  pere  asca- 
voir  le  feu,  lair  et  leau. 

27.  XXIX.  Item  que  lame  de  Ihomme  est  mortelle  et 
quil  n'ya  qung  souffle  elementaire  qui  soyt  immortel  qui 
est  la  substance  que  lesus  Christ  a  maintenant  au  ciel  et 
qui  est  aussi  la  substance  elementaire  et  divine  et  incor- 
ruptible du  sainct  esperit. 

28.  XXX.  Item  que  jamais  les  Peres  soubz  la  loy  nont 
receu  lesperit  de  regeneration. 

29.  XXXI.  Item  que  lame  de  Ihomme  a  este  faicte 
mortelle  apres  le  peche  dAdam  comme  le  corps. 

30.  XXXII.  Item  que  les  petits  enfans  nont  poiuct  de 
peche  et  pourtant  quils  nont  que  faire  de  redemption  jus- 
ques  a  ce  quils  soyent  venus  en  aige. 

31.  XXXIII.  Item  quon  ne  commet  poinct  pech^  mor- 
tel  jusques  en  laige  de  vingt  ans. 

32.  XXXIV.  Item  que  le  Batesme  des  petits  enfans  est 
une  invention  diabolique,  une  faulsete  infernalle  pour 
destruire  toute  la  chrestiente. 

33.  XXXV.  Item  que  la  parolle  de  Dieu  nest  plus  telle 
quelle  estoit  devant  I'incarnation  de  lesus  Christ,  pource 
que  la  substance  dicelle  estoit  la  clarte  de  la  nuee  et  que 
maintenant  elle  est  faicte  chair. 

34.  XXXVI.  Item  combien  quil  confesse  que  les  philo- 
sophes  ayent  erre  en  disant  que  le  monde  estoit  le  grant 
Dieu,  il  diet  que  lesus  Christ  en  tant  quil  est  homme  estoit 
tousjours  en  Dieu  et  que  de  luy  est  la  deite  du  monde. 

35.  XXXVII.  Item  que  lair  est  lesperit  de  Dieu  et  que 
Dieu  est  nomme  esperit  pource  quil  vivifie  toutes  choses 
par  son  esperit  dair. 

36.  XXXVIII.  Item  que  lame  de  Ihomme  en  tant  quelle 
a  beaucoup  de  proprietes  divines  est  plaine  de  dieux  infinis. 


APPENDIX.  237 

•  37.  XXXIX.  Item  quen  la  personne  de  Mons.  Calvyn, 
ministre  de  la  parolle  de  Dieu  en  ceste  Eglise  de  Geneve, 
il  a  difame  par  livre  imprime  la  doctrine  que  s'i  presche 
pronon9ant  toutes  les  injures  et  blasphemes  quil  est  possi- 
ble dinventer. 

38.  XL.  Et  pource  quil  scavoit  bien  que  son  diet  livre 
ne  pourroit  estre  souflfert  mesme  entre  les  Papistes  k  cause 
quil  destruict  tons  les  fondements  de  la  clirestiente  quil 
sest  cache  de  Guillaume  Guerou  pour  lors  correcteur  de 
limprimerie,  comme  ledict  Guerou  la  declaire. 

39.  Requiert  ledict  Ny colas  que  ledict  Servet  soit  con- 
trainct  de  respondre  sur  le  faict  des  articles  icy  proposes, 
sans  entrer  en  dispute  si  la  doctrine  est  vraye  ou  non, 
pource  que  cela  se  vuydera  puys  apres." 


C— Pages  121,  124. 

The  following  are  some  Extracts  from  the  Letter  of 
Balthazar  Arnoullet,  referred  to  at  the  pages  indi- 
cated above,  and  may  sufl&ce  to  show  that  the  intimacy 
of  Servetus  and  Geroult  was  close,  though  the  former 
altogether  disclaimed  it. 

A  Sire  Jaques  Bertet,  demeurant  a  Chastillon. 

Jaques,  jay  receu  vos  lettres  par  le  present  porteur  da- 
lles du  12*  juillet.  Et  pour  responce  en  icelles  :  je  suis 
joyeux  que  je  treuve  nestre  veritable  ce  que  Symon  du 
Bosc  mavoit  escrit  de  vous  que  aviez  declare  que  aviez  un 
toneau  aFrancfort  deces  livres  (la  Christianismi  Restitutio) , 

Et  ne  suis  encor  du  tout  sailly  de  mon  proces 

(celui  oil  il  etait  engage  a  Vienne  comme  imprimeur  du 
livre  de  Servet),  car  il  faillu  faire  encor  hier  ma  purgation 
par  six  gens  de  bien  de  nos  voysins  sur  ma  prudhomie 
pour  estre  absoulz  dedans  la  sepmaine  prochaine  qui  sera 


238  APPENDIX. 

ma  totalle  delivrance  (des  prisons  de  Vienne  ou  il  gtait 
detenu)  et  mest  plus  besoin  destre  plus  homme  de  bien 
que  Gueroult  et  meilleure  conscience,  car  les  bons  amys  que 

jay  et  ay  tousjours  eu  ne  ce  fusse  mesl6  en  mes  affaires. 

***** 

Quant  a  ce  que  Gueroult  et  du  Bosc  disent  que  je  leur 
faitz  tort,  cest  totallement  au  contraire,  car  ils  out  eu  tous- 
jours deux  foys  plus  du  mien  que  nay  eu  du  leur.  Et  pour 
recompence  davoir  nourry  la  femme  de  Gueroult  trois  ans 
entiers,  et  luy  entretenu  corame  ma  personne  en  notre  mai- 
son  en  luy  baillant  guages  pour  faire  ce  que  jeusse  fait  faire 
^  dappreutifs  en  la  correction  qui  en  ont  plus  aprins  en  un 
an  quil  nen  a  aprins  en  troys  ans,  il  ma  villainement  trahy, 
car  il  a  corrige  le  livre  (la  Christianismi  Restitutio)  tout  du 
long  et  ne  me  declara  jamais  les  erreurs.  Que  commeme 
fiant  a  luy  je  demandoys  sil  estoit  selon  Dieu  (c'est-a-dire 
s'il  etait  selon  les  principes  de  la  foi  reform ee)  il  me  disoit 
que  ouy,  mais  que  il  parloit  en  quelques  epistres  a  Mons.r 
Cal.  (Calvin)  et  quil  (Gugroult)  avoit  bonne  envie  de  le 
traduyre  en  Frau9ois  ;  mais  je  luy  dis  que  si  lautheur 
nestoit  contant  (n'y  consentait)  quil  s'en  gardast  bien,  ce 
que  lautheur  ne  voulust  permettre  ne  quil  en  prist  un.  II 
a  dit  beaucoup  de  mal  de  M/  Cal.  en  bonnes  compagnies 
(ce  qui  prouve,  comme  nous  I'avons  dit,  que  Gueroult  ap- 
partenait  au  parti  anticalviniste),  et  mesmes  il  meraporta 
a  son  dernier  voyage  quil  luy  parla  et  quil  luy  avoit  dit  de 
moy  quil  navoit  fait  que  son  devoir  de  me  faire  aprehender 
(s'agit-il  ici  de  I'arrestation  d'Arnoullet  a  Vienne  sur  la 
denonciation  de  de  Trie  ?)  et  que  je  passoye  par  dela  (Ge- 
neve) sans  laller  voir  (lui  Calvin).  La  verite  est  telle  que 
je  pensoye  quil  ne  meust  en  telle  amytie  comme  il  ma  eu 
par  le  passe  (ce  qui  prouve  qu'ArnouUet  appartenait  se- 
ergtement  aux  reformes  Fran9ais)  pour  avoir  tenu  un  tel 

monstre  (Servet)  lequel  Dieu  veuille  adviser En 

ce  temps  (pendant  I'impression  de  la  Christ^nismi  Restitutio) 


APPENDIX.  239 

il  (Gu6roult)  avoit  la  charge  de  la  maison  et  correction  et 
nestoye  pour  la  troisigme  partie  du  temps  en  la  maison, 
car  il  saccordoit  avec  lautheur  de  sorte  quil  ne  (me)  de- 
clara  jamais  rien  sinon  apres  que  fustes  party  pour  aller  a 
Francfort  (ou  Bertet  portait  comme  libraire,  entre  autres 
livres,  ceiix  qu'imprimait  ArnouUet,  ce  qui  lui  donna  I'oc- 
casion  de  prendre  connaissance  de  la  Christianismi  Restitutio)^ 
et  ne  fust  que  par  le  moyen  que  men  parlastes  si  affectue- 
usement  dudit  livre,  ne  leusse  tant  tentg  h.  luy  faire  dire 

verite,  encor  pas  la  moytie,  ne  me  dit Quant 

a  ce  que  me  mandez  que  je  prenne  un  homme  pour  aller 
a  Francfort  (afin  de  faire  disparaltre  les  exeraplaires  de 
la  Christianismi  Restitutio  qui  s'y  trouvaient)  vous  devez  en- 
tendre que  je  nay  pas  delib^re  en  pendre  un  autre  que 

vous Je  vous  conseille  de  faire  perdre  secrette- 

ment  les  livres  (lesdits  exemplaires)  et  quil  ne  sen  treuve 
jamais  fueillet  ny  demy.  Et  que  ce  soit  sans  que  soyez 
en  ce  scandalise  car  il  me  grgve  bien  que  soyons  ainsi  de- 
ceuz  et  trompes  en  tel  affaire  (entre  Bertet  et  Arnoullet 
existait  probablement  une  association  pour  le  commerce 
de  librairie).  Mais  Dieu  notre  pere  nous  garde  encor 
assez  de  biens  et  beaucoup  plus  que  naurons  destruy.  .  .  . 
Quant  k  ce  que  me  mandez  que  je  scavoys  bien  que 
lautheur  estoit  rejette  desEglises  Chr6tiennes  (reform^es) 
et  que  sur  partie  lavarice  ma  meu  a  ce  faire  (a  imprimer 
la  Christianismi  Restitutio),  je  vous  prie  ne  mavoir  en  telle 
estime  ou  vous  seriez  loing  de  ma  congnoissance  et  vous 
suflfise  que  je  vous  escritz  cy  dessus  la  verite. 


D_Page  150. 

Double  de  la  smtence  criminelle  jettee  a  Vienne  centre  Michel 
Sercet  el  executee  en  eMqie. 


Entre  le  procureur  du  Roy  daulphiu  demandeur  en  crime 


240  APPENDIX. 

dheresie  scandaleuse  dogmatisation  composition  de  noiivel- 
les  doctrines  et  livres  hgretiques  sedition  schisme  et  per- 
turbation de  lunion  et  repoz  publicques  rebellion  et  dgso- 
beissance  aux  ordonnances  faictes  contre  les  heresies  ef- 
fraction et  evasion  des  prisons  royalles  delphinales  dune 
part,  et  maitre  Michel  de  Villeneufve  medecin  par  cy  de- 
vant  prisonnier  aux  prisons  du  pallaix  delphinal  de  Vienne 
et  a  present  fugitif  accuse  desdits  crimes  daultre. 

Veu  par  nous  les  pieces  iustificatives  desdictes  heresies, 
mesmes  les  epistres  et  escriptures  de  la  main  dudict  Ville- 
neufve adressees  a  M.^  lehan  Calvin  prescheur  de  Geneve, 
et  par  ledict  de  Villeneufve  recogneues,  ses  r^ponces,  con- 
fessions et  negations;  les  reponces  et  aultres  procedures 
concernantz  Balthazard  Arnollet  imprimeur;  certaines 
basics  et  livres  imprimez  desquelz  lintitulation  est  Chris- 
tianismi  Restitutio;  les  tesmoings  examinez  sus  ce  que  ledict 
de  Villeneufve  avoit  compose  et  faict  imprimer  ledict 
livre  a  sez  despens;  les  rapportz  des  docteurs  entli6ologie  et 
aultres  personnes  notables  sur  les  erreurs  contenuz  audict 
livre  et  epistres,  et  lesquelz  erreurs  et  heresies  sont  dail- 
leurs  manifestes  par  la  lecture  dyceux;  actes  faictes  sur 
levation  des  prisons  et  diligences  de  aprghender  ledict  Vil- 
leneufve; adiournemens  a  troys  briefz  iours  et  defautz  sur 
iceux  obtenuz ;  recollemens  des  tesmoings,  conclusions  dif- 
finitives  dudict  procureur  du  Koy  daulphin  ;  et  tout  ce  qui 
a  este  remys  par  devers  nous  :  Le  tout  considere  nous  avons 
diet  et  disons  lesdictz  defautz  avoir  este  bien  et  deuement 
obtenuz.  Pour  le  proffit  desquelz  nous  avons  forcloz  et 
forcluons  ledict  de  Villeneufve  de  toutes  exceptions  et 
defences,  declairg  et  declairons  atteint  et  convaincu  des 
cas  et  crimes  a  luy  imposez  :  pour  repression  des  quelz  nous 
lavons  condamne  et  condamnons,  assavoir,  pour  le  regard 
de  lamende  pecuniaire  en  la  sorame  de  mille  livres  tournois 
damende  envers  le  Roy  daulphin,  et  a  estre,  incontinent 
quil  sera  apr^hende,  conduyt  sur  ung  tumbereau  avec  ses 


APPENDIX.  241 

livres  k  jour  et  heure  de  march^,  des  la  porte  du  pallaix 
delpliinal  par  les  carrephours  et  lieux  accoustum^s  iusques 
au  lieu  de  la  hale  de  la  presente  cite  et  subsequerament 
en  la  place  appelee  du  Charneve,  et  illec  estre  brule  tout 
vifz  k  petit  feu,  tellement  que  son  corps  soit  mys  en  cen- 
dre.   Cependant  sera  la  presente  sentence  executee  en  effi- 
gie  avecques  laquelle  seront  sesdictz  livres  brusles,  et  si, 
lavons  condemns  et  condemnons  es  despens  et  frais  de 
iustice  des  quels  nous  rSservons  la  taxe,  declairans  tous  et 
chacuns  ses  biens  acquys  et  confisquSs  au  proffit  de  qui 
apartiendra,  lesdictz  frays  de  iustice  et  amende  sur  iceux 
biens  au  prgalable  livrez  et  payez.     De  la  Court  vybailly 
et  iuge  delpliinal,  Grater,  assesseur,Carier,  assesseur,  Putod, 
assesseur,  Duprat,  assesseur,  Adebart,  assesseur,  Beraud, 
assesseur,  Phi.  Neret,  assesseur,  Temptesieu  Passard,  asses- 
seur, Bertier,  assesseur,  P.  le  Court,  assesseur,  Loys  Morel, 
assesseur,  Christofle,  assesseur.     PubliSe  ladicte  sentence 
en  plein  iugement  a  laudiance  audict  procureur  du  Roy 
daulphin.     Nous  vybailly  et  juge  susdicts  seans  dans  lau- 
ditoire  du  pallaix  delphinal  de  Vienne,  le  dixseptiesme 
jour  du  moys  de  juing  Ian  mil  cinq  cens  cinquaute  troys. 
Presens  a  ce  M.^*  Philibert   Gollin,  Alexandre   Roland, 
Claude  Magnin,  Charles  Verdonez,  Pierre  des  Vignes  et 
plusieurs  autres  praticiens  de  Vienne  illec  estans  et  moy 
greffier  soubsigne  Chasalis. 

Dudict  jour  envyron  Iheure  de  mydy  apres  que  leffigie 
dudict  Yilleneufve  avoit  este  faicte  au  devant  dudict  pal- 
laix delphinal:  icelle  effigie  par  Fran9.  Berodi  executeur 
de  la  haulte  iustice,  lequel  Ion  a  envoye  qugrir  a  ces  fins, 
a  este  mise  sur  ung  tumbereau  avec  cinq  basles  des  li\Tes 
composez  par  icelluy  Villeneufve,et  apres  ledict  tumbereau 
charge  desdicts  eflSgie  et  livres  a  est6  conduit  et  men 6  par 
ledict  executeur  des  la  porte  dudict  pallaix  par  les  carre- 
fours  et  lieux  accoustumes  iusques  au  lieu  de  la  hale  de  la 
presente  cit6  de  Vienne,  et  subsequemment  en  la  placeAp- 


24-2  APPENDIX. 

pelle  la  Charneve,  en  laquelle  ladicte  effigie  a  est6  atta- 
ch6e  a  une  potence  express^ment  erigge,  et  apres  brusl^e 
avec  lesdicts  livres  k  petit  feu  par  ledict  exgcuteur,  lequel 
a  mys  k  dheiie  et  entiere  execution  ladicte  sentence  pour 
le  regard  de  ladicte  effigie  sellon  sa  forme  et  teneur  en  pre- 
sence de  Guigues  Ambrosin,  crieur  et  trompette  de  Vienne, 
Claude  Reymet,  Michel  Basset  sergent  royaulx  delphinaux, 
Sermet  des  Chams  bolungier  de  Vienne,  et  de  plusieurs 
aultres  gens  illec  assemblez  pour  veoir  faire  ladicte  execu- 
tion. Ainsin  a  este  precede,  et  par  moy  greffier  so\ibnom- 
me  receu  Chasalis. — Extrait  des  registres  de  la  Court  du 
baillaige  de  Vienne  par  moy  greffier  soubsigng  Chasalis. 


E.— Page  188;  F.— Page  198. 

Lettres  circulaires  adressees,  d  Voccasion  dii  proces  de  Sertet, 
par  le  Conseil  de  Geneve,  aux  Eglises  et  Conseils  des  Cantons 
Protestants,  avec  les  rtponses  des  gouvernements  de  Zurich  et  de 
Berne. 

I. 

Aux  spectahles,  scavans  et  honorez  Seigneurs  ministresde  la  Parolle 
Dieu  en  VEglise  de ,  nos  bien  hons  et  singuUers  amys. 

Spectables  scavans  et  honoris  Seigneurs,  nous  nous  re- 
commandons  bien  a  vostre  bonne  grace. 

Spectables  Seigneurs  Bien  seurs  et  certains  que  vous  per- 
sistez  tousjours  en  ceste  bonne  et  saincte  volunte  davancer 
et  maintenir  la  parolle  de  Dieu,  nous  avons  pense  que  vous 
ferions  bien  tort,  si  nous  celions  ce  que  parmy  ces  iours 
avons  trouve  :  cest  quil  y  a  ung  homme  en  noz  prisons 
nomme  ]\[icliiel  Servetus  qui  sest  inger6  a  composer,  escri- 
pre  et  faire  imprimer  des  livres  sus  la  Saincte  Escripture 
coutenans  grands  et  infinys  passaigesquepr6tendonsnestre 
rcQepvables  selon  Dieu  et  la  saincte  doctrine  gvangelique. 


APPENDIX.  243 

Lequel  est  est6  ouy  par  nos  ministres,  et  auquel  pourtant 
sont  este  formes  des  articles  esquels  il  a  repondu,  et  k  ses 
responces  est  est6  replicque ;  il  a  encore  replicque  luy, 
<;omment  le  tout  est  redige  par  escript,  lequel  pour  Ihon- 
neur  de  Dieu,  nous  vous  prions  il  vous  plaise  veoir,  puys 
rendre  a  nostre  present  messagier  avec  vostre  bon  advys. 
Vous  prions  aussi  de  vouloir  veoir  lung  de  ses  livres  qua- 
vons  bailie  au  present  porteur,  pour  vous  commuuiquer, 
affin  puissiez  cognoistre  que  a  bonne  cause  nous  vouldrions 
r^primer  ses  maulvais  propos.  Et  du  tout  nous  en  rescri- 
pre  vostre  dit  bon  advys,  lequel  desirous  grandement  sans 
toutefifois  nous  deffier  aulcunement  de  noz  ministres.  Vous 
nous  obligerez  tousiours  plus  oultre  k  prier  Dieu  il  lui 
plaise  vous  augmenter  en  ses  sainctes  graces.  De  Geneve 
ce  21  Septembre  1553. 

Les  Syndiques  et  Conseil  de  Geneve 
Vos  bien  bons  et  grans  amys. 

II. 

Jinx  magniffiques,  puissans  et  tres  redonhtez  Seigneurs,  les  Seig- 
neurs Bourguemaistre  (ou  advoyer)  et  Conseil  de ,  not 

hien  bons  voysins,  treschers,  singuUers  et  ireshonores  amys. 

Magnifficques,  Puissans  et  tres  redoubtez  Seigneurs  nous 
nous  recommandons  bien  fort  a  vostre  bonne  grace. 

Magnifficques  Seigneurs  !  Nous  ne  scavons  si  voz  Seig- 
neuries  ont  entendu  que  nous  avons  ung  prisonnier,  qui 
se  nomme  Michael  Servetus,  qui  a  compose,  escript  et  faict 
imprimer  ung  livre  contenant  beaucoub  de  choses  centre 
nostre  religion.  Que  nous  avons  faict  veoir  a  noz  Ministres 
mais  combien  que  ne  nous  defions  aucunement  dyceux  noz 
Ministres,  nous  desirons  encore  le  communiquer  k  ceux  de 
vostre  ville  sil  vous  plait,  ensemble  ses  responces,  et  ce  sus 
quoy  il  a  respondu.  Et  pour  ce  leur  en  avons  escript,  nous 
vous  prions  doncque  bien  aflfectueusement  quil  vous  plaise 
les  vouloir  induire  k  vouloir  le  tout  veoir,  et  nous  en  rescri- 


244  APPENDIX. 

pre  leur  "bon  adv-ys,  affin  nous  puissions  la  chose  selon  son 
debvoir  terminer.  A  tant  nous  prierons  Dieu  il  luy  plaise 
vous  augraenter  en  prosp6rit€  destat.  De  Geneve  ce21  de 
Septembre  1553. 

Vos  bien  bons  voysins  tons  prest  et  grans  amys 
Les  Syndiques  et  Conseil  de  Geneve. 

III. 

TRADUCTION. 

Aux prodhoms,  proucahles,  honorables  et  saiges  les  Sindicques  et 
Conseil  de  Geneve^  nos  singuliers,  bien  aymez  et  bons  amys. 

Notre  aimable  et  voluntaire  service  avec  tons  les  hon- 
neurs  amour  et  amitie  a  nous  possibles  prgmys,  Prodhoms, 
prouvables,  honorables  et  saiges  singuliers  bien  aymez  et 
bons  amys,  sus  vostre  escripre  et  requeste  et  ce  quavez 
envoy6  par  deca  le  livre  publie  par  votre  prisonnier  Michel 
Servet,  nous  avons  toute  la  procedure  delivre  h,  noz  scavans 
et  Ministres  de  notre  Eglise  lesquelles  nespargnantz  aul- 
cunement  leur  singuliere  obligence  ont  veu  lescripre  du- 
dict  Servet  tant  que  la  peu  porter  le  temps  et  sus  cela 
redige  par  escript  leur  advys  et  confession  comme  le  verrez 
ycy  aupres,  en  bonne  confiance  que  vous  recevres  linforraa- 
tion  des  nostres  a  singulier  contentement  et  plaisir  et  ne 
laisseres  venir  en  avant  la  meschante  et  faulse  intention  de 
votre  diet  prisonnier,  laquelle  est  toutallement  contraire  k 
la  religion  Chrestienne,  et  laquelle  donne  de  grandz  scan- 
dalles  et  assaulz,  ains  aurez  aggreable  et  vous  plaira  lin- 
forraation  de  noz  scavans  et  leur  confession  de  notre 
saincte  religion  Chrestienne,  et  si  a  ladvenir  en  tels  advene- 
mens  vous  aviez  besoing  du  conseil  et  ad\4s  des  nostres 
trouverez  iceulx  et  nous  aussi  en  tons  temps  tres  volun- 
taires,  car  nous  sommes  tons  inclins  et  voluntaires  k  lad- 
vaucement  de  tout  ce  qui  pourra  servir  h.  labolissement  de 
faulses  errales  doctrines  et  oninions  et  a  ladvancement  de 


APPENDIX.  245 

Ihonneur  de  Dieu  et  de  sa  saincte  paroUe.     Donne  Lundy 
second  doctobre  1553. 

Burgemaistre  et  Conseil  de  la  ville  de  Zurich. 

IV. 

ORIGIKAL. 

Aux  nobles,  magniffiques  Seigneurs,  les  Sindicques  et  Conseil  dg 
Gene/ve,  nous  singuUers  amys,  treschiers  et  feaulx  comhourgeois. 

Nobles  magnifficques  Sgrs.,  singuliers  amys  tres  chiers  et 
feaulx  combourgeoys  nous  avons  receuz  vous  lectres  dalles 
XXP  de  Septenibre  touchant  Michiel  Servetus  et  ayant 
veuz  et  bien  entenduz  le  conteuuz  dicelles,  incontinent 
comme  desirrez  ordonne  a  nous  ministres  icy  de  veoir  le 
livre  et  les  responces  dudict  Servetus  et  apres  vous  en  es- 
cripre  leur  bon  advis  et  opinions.  Ce  quil  ont  faict  comme 
entendres  par  leur  lectres  que  vous  escripvent.  Vous 
prions  comme  ne  doubtons  point  a  ce  estre  enclins  de  tou- 
siours  tenir  main  que  les  erreurs  et  sectes  comme  lesdict 
sont  ou  semblables  ne  soyent  semees  en  lesglise  de  lesu 
Christ  nostre  seul  Saulveur  et  par  ce  garder  de  trouble  et 
adversite,  et  sa  gloire  avancer  et  augmenter.  Datum  VI 
Octobris  1553. 

Ladvoyer  et  Conseil  de  Berne. 


POPULAE  WOEKS 

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BROWN,  REV.  DAVID. 

Will  our  Lord's  Second  Advent  be  Pre- Millennial  ? 

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